Another Look At The Blueprint

Once upon a time, before Eternity was broken
into disposable bits, every day was Holy.
After a misunderstanding with the landlord
that led to our eviction from Eden, we invented
a new god, WORK, and began worshipping it
six days a week, with the seventh set aside
to catch our breath, and called 'Sabbath'—
being unemployed was worse
than being an atheist in the Bible Belt.

Of course, that all seems long ago, and now
we're quite enlightened, working only five days a week,
that is, if we're lucky enough to have a job.
Why, sometimes, we even have a long weekend!
Plus, we can daydream for fifty weeks
about our vacation—if we're lucky enough to get one...
and daydream for fifty years about our retirement...
if we haven't worked ourselves to death before then.

Apparently some prankster, or demon, or
dyslexic bureaucrat, or sleepy third-shift supervisor
turned the blueprint upside down,
because we're supposed to have two on and five off,
or one on and six off—the fine print is a little blurry—
or possibly, none on, and all off.

A hard-boiled pragmatist may hear this and think:
nice fantasy...but who's going to pick up the trash?
Good question, for that's exactly the point:
no one will pick up the trash—
because nobody will waste time
making junk that turns into trash...
now, that's what I call practical—
the planet doesn't get buried in garbage,
and we discover the treasure of our daily lives.

In my imagination, a morning dawns when we each awaken...
rub our eyes...stretch...yawn...slowly get oriented...and realize,
"...hmmmm...another day...to do exactly as I please...
another 24 whole hours, for meditation and creative activity,
rest and play, joyfully intertwined:
aaaaaaah—
the life of a trillionaire!"