tax season

it takes less
time each year gathering my
papers together
to take to betty,
my tax lady.
I have the annoyance down now.
she says the same thing,
how we'd do
as I plop my stack onto
the counter.
her little business
is in a small cape cod
cottage
next to a farm,
or what used to be a farm,
on the outskirts of
manassas.
she lives upstairs.
cats roam everywhere.
a window hasn't been opened
in years.
I've seen the same
coffee cups and ashtrays
for decades now.
the magazines too.
ancient.
liz taylor on the front
of People.
burt Reynolds on Us.
a few weeks go by and she
calls.
they're ready, she says.
come and get em.