How I Spent New Years Night

One of my resolutions this year is to get a lot more writing done, especially poetry. My goal is to dramatically increase my poetics folder without winding up in bankruptcy court. No easy trick.
It's not always easy to find a place to write either.

How To Write Late at Night On New Year's Day

You're either reading this now
Or perhaps you're listening to me read it.
No matter.
This is how I came to write it.
It is New Years Day 2008.
According to my cell phone
The time is now 10:43 pm.
I am in the hallway of my apartment building.
I am sitting in a folding chair
wracking my brains for something to write about.
Finally I think of this-
So I am writing it.
I am looking toward the end of the hall
Where the overhead light is reflected
In the window.
There is only one light
But it is reflected, and reflected again three times
In the same pane of glass.
The hallway is painted gray.
Above the moulding, which is about two and a half feet up,
(from the floor)-
The wall is painted a light gray.
Below the moulding it is painted a darker gray.
My wife says it is green.
I don't care, It still looks gray.
I am dressed in a white t-shirt with black slacks.
I'm out here because my whole unit is dark.
My wife and daughter are asleep.
I could use the Sitting Room
But we have guests, and they are using it
As a guest bed chamber.
Therefore, the hallway is the only space
I can use as a study.
The other night, the woman next door to me
Came back late with her friend
And saw me camped out like this-
In the hallway, writing.
Needless to mention, they were astonished.
They'll probably remember it for a long time.
Maybe, forever.

Copyright 2008