I Meant To Do My Work Today
I meant to do my work today,
But a brown bird sang in the apple tree,
And a butterfly flitted across the field,
And all the leaves were calling me.
And the wind went sighing over the land,
Tossing the grasses to and fro,
And a rainbow held out its shining hand--
So what could I do but laugh and go?
by Richard le Gallienne
Richard le Gallienne ((1866 - 1947) was an English man of letters who was born in Liverpool but moved to the United States in his thirties. He started work in an accountant's office, but abandoned this to write poetry, literary journalism and translation. For a while he was a member of Oscar Wilde's literary circle.
Poetry Idea
Here's a "excuse" poem, decribing all the reasons why someone couldn't get his work done.
1. Start out your poem either generally ("I meant to do my work today, but . . .") or with a specific task you're avoiding ("I meant to do the dishes, but . . ."). You can repeat this line as the opening line for several stanzas if you want.
2. When listing things that distracted you, you can either be realistic ("The water coming out of the faucet mesmerized me and I started counting bubbles") or fantastical ("Each dish grew legs and became a turtle!"). The emphasis here is on daydreaming while doing a boring task. What do you WISH would happen?
3. Write as many stanzas of excuses as you want--the possibilities are endless!
