do i really need a bucket list?

trembling

i tell a few friends about my

reluctant

plans

to retire.

they've all quit work years

ago.

i see them

at the lake,

throwing bread to ducks.

i see them

at the stores shopping,

or at restaurants

getting the sunset

discounts.

i see them with luggage

on top

of their cars as they

fly off

to distant lands.

with passports in hand.

they tell me it's time to start

going through

my bucket list.

one by one.

doing all the things i wished

i could have done

but couldn't because

of work.

then i realize i don't have a

bucket list.

there's no list at all.

do i need to see the grand

canyon,

or hike the Appalachian Trail,

not really, Iceland,

Thailand.

do i need to go to Hawaii

or France?

i guess it might be fun, i tell

them with a shrug.

but doing nothing, absolutely

nothing for awhile

except for writing 

and reading books

is all i really care to do

at the moment.

maybe by a ridiculous red

sports car,

maybe sleep in, too.