Stretching It

Stretching It

i had an instructor once
who always used to say
"don't stretch the work
to fit the time"
meaning
don't stretch
15 minutes of work
into 2 hours
just cause there's 2 hours left
on the clock

i've known folks
who live by the opposite principle
folks who've stretched
a few months of real living
over the course
of a few decades

the same folks 
who take
tending to pets
plants and windows
as enough arduous labor
for their entire week

i spoke to one
the other day
trying to stretch
a few hours worth of real living
since we last spoke
into hours and hours
of conversation
making me wonder
if it's possible
if she's lived 
bored to death
for decade upon decade
without ever knowing
just how 
utterly bored
and tiresome
she and her life
have been

i wonder
if she's come to delight
in watching
the slow moving hands of the clock
for hours in a day
as her just reward
for gaming
the system
that would otherwise
have her
doing
something

it was a long
and arduous conversation
so i won't
speak to her again
for a good long time
since i want my 15 minutes of work
done in 15 minutes
so i can move on
to getting drunk
jacking off
watching roller derby
or a good fight
taking a nap
or whatever the fuck else
to avoid 
the likes of her
with anything else
being better
than an hour
and forty-five minutes
of her own boredom
she's grown
so accustomed to
and always
so eager
to share
as her most
prized 
accomplishment

it may seem
like a prickish
thing to do
rejecting
the only thing
she has to offer
but sometimes
you gotta fight
to hold onto
what keeps you sane
which
most often than not
is anything other
than them
and what little
they have
to offer