Day 7 - 2.213

Prompt for: February 2, 2013
Subject or Theme: Save it for a Rainy Day
Word(s) to Include: mist(ed/s/y)
Forbidden Word(s): blue, dance(d/ing/s), drop(s), droplet(s), sad(ly), sing(ing/s), sky, umbrella(s)
Additional Parameters: Minimum 24 lines or you may write a Sestina.

Chose sestina- words used in the following order;
Day
spend
Bank
Dead
what
Time

Differing sestina methods use different forms of ordering throughout the poem.
I used the form I was taught which follows along in line.


Rainy Day Accounts

Something about getting caught up in our lives; the day
to day bustle of getting everything done: we spend
our lives in pennies. Money never lasts a paycheck: the bank
is empty. The fridge down to half a head of lettuce: wilted, dead.
And you said that life was more than money: we were rich in what
mattered. We muddled along and got through that tough time.

Another year, you ran out of vacation and you promised we’d spend
special days together anyway. We’ll put that trip in the ‘to do’ bank.
I worried we’d have all these grand plans, delayed, til we were dead.
Salaried folks don’t get overtime: just keep chasing the carrot. What
are things when we have each other, you asked. Next time
it will be better. We just need to save for our rainy day.

Two bodies that went bump in the night, passion bank
empty too. Insufficient energy. Months page by; another year dead.
Started throwing change and spare dollars in an antique water jug. What
will we do with it when we have enough? Where would we go? Time
enough for that down the road we figured. There will come a day
we will be retired and just think of all the fun and money we can spend.

Last vacation ten years ago. Counting lost moments: Cold, dead
change in the bottle. Retirement accounts in place. Mist is what
defines our lives. Work, eat, sleep: repeat. Never enough time
to replace water heaters or change the oil. We’ll set aside a day
just for us, we promise. Aqua moons come and go. We spend
wishes and dime ourselves. Our worries are safe in the bank.

Economy tanks, refinanced lives, I start a company. Now. What
were we thinking? Dreams earned over a space of time
take years to mature. Birthdays pass and it takes more than a day
to build a future. Pondering. I wonder if we need to spend
less energy on bottom lines in one or the other bank
and more on if it will matter because we could well be dead.

Work bellows and we dust off memories to feed a hungry day.
Wills need to be written, a knee replaced. We spend
our tomorrows recovering from yesterdays put in the bank
for another cycle. Interest in far flung trips pales. Dead
leaves need raking. Hard to balance the scale. What
kind of funeral do we want? Can I get one with extra time?

The bottom line: don’t spend tomorrows to save a day
A balance in the bank won’t matter when you’re dead.
The important thing is what you did with your invested time.