The Questions

          Do you have any plans for retirement?

          Yes – everything

          No – nothing

          I don’t know. I’m waiting

          to find out what my body tells me,

          listen for my natural rhythm,

          try not to plan, for once.

          What will you do with all that time?

           I know what I won’t be doing –

           I won’t be grading papers every weekend

           Planning lessons for Julius Caesar

           Bringing home Taco Bell for dinner

           Rushing through lunch

           Rushing to the bathroom before the bell.

           I’ll write more

           Try to find that woodpecker I hear knocking

           Scratch my dog’s belly

           Hold my mother’s hand

           Be patient while listening to my dad’s complaints

           Sit by the creek in silence, see who visits

           Hold still long enough for my husband

           to put his arms around me.

           Revel in the patterns

           the sunlight makes on leaves.

                                                                                     Jodi Hottel