The Day’s Chores: A List (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Patricia Hampl
- First Published: 1978
- Type of Work: Meditation
- Genres: Poetry, Meditation
- Subjects: Self, Food, Work or workers, Consciousness, Houses, mansions, or manors, Sun, Dinners or dining, Sleep
The Poem
“The Day’s Chores: A List” is in twelve numbered sections. In section 1 (one stanza of eight lines), the speaker sleepily encounters a cup of tea, noting the cup’s color and contemplating its ingredients. She opens one eye at a time, perhaps reluctant to come fully awake. Section 2 identifies the first actual chore and issues the first command: Water the plants. The plants are seen as a substitute for a pet; they will at least respond (“purr with pleasure”) to being tended. Section 3, the briefest section with only two lines, issues the second command:...
[The entire page is 1392 words long]
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