I am packing to go to the airport 
but somehow I am never packed. 
I keep remembering more things 
I keep forgetting. 

Secretly the clock is bolting 
forward ten minutes at a click 
instead of one. Each time 
I look away, it jumps. 

Now I remember I have to find 
the cats. I have four cats 
even when I am asleep. 
One is on the bed and I slip 

her into the suitcase. 
One is under the sofa. I 
drag him out. But the tabby 
in the suitcase has vanished. 

Now my tickets have run away. 
Maybe the cat has my tickets. 
I can only find one cat. 
My purse has gone into hiding. 

Now it is time to get packed. 
I take the suitcase down. 
There is a cat in it but no clothes. 
My tickets are floating in the bath 

tub full of water. I dry them. 
One cat is in my purse 
but my wallet has dissolved. 
The tickets are still dripping. 

I look at the clock as it leaps 
forward and see I have missed 
my plane. My bed is gone now. 
There is one cat the size of a sofa. 

Poet: Marge Piercy
Poem: Traveling Dream
Poem of the Day: Sep 5 2006

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