Lisa Low: “Doing a Good Job at Sixty, II”
DOING A GOOD JOB AT SIXTY, II
Last night’s snow came down in a hurry—
a long-fingered fury of uninjured
beauty. This morning standing knee-high
in it, I had to goad myself to trim
it—to bend and shove and bend and shove
the curved steel forward; to gather and throw
the heavy snow over tired shoulder
and elbow. But as I worked, I slowed, learning
to love the work I’d done. Easy it is to lie
on the grass and gaze enraptured at the sun.
Necessity is harder. It grinds you through
resistance: gravity’s, your own, until the path
is clear. Sweet the waters of relaxation.
Far more thrilling: the joy of a job well done.
Lisa Low’s essays, book reviews, and interviews have appeared in Massachusetts Review, Boston Review, Tupelo Quarterly, and Adroit Journal. Her poetry has appeared in a variety of literary journals, among them Valparaiso Poetry Review, Pennsylvania English, Indianapolis Review, Phoebe, American Journal of Poetry, and Southern Indiana Review.