the challenge of disengagement

the first of vacation

the first days of vacation,
after a long haul of heavy lifting,
are not just a turning down, a turning off,
my energies can shift into playing as hard as I worked,
the intense hike, chore after chore that needs doing,
when I try to cut off my engine,
it sometimes tries to keep going
and I backfire like an ill-tuned car,

sleep can be like that
with ignored attendants waking you back up
to remind you of what else needs doing,
or at least needs worrying about,

I love the sauna,
for, after hot sweat and cold shock,
I fall deep into a sleep
and don’t catch myself on any of the ledges on the way down.

by Henry Walker
July 6, ’10