(redhair)

Ill-tempered
red-haired women
on cell phones
in public.
I have to listen
to thier scolding
self-righteous voices
every where I go.
Business is no longer
contained in offices.
It oozes into my
life in cafes
and b ookstores,
the Saturday morning
seminars I take
for self-improvement.

Everyone works
at home now
so nowhere
is a haven.
sometimes I think
it’s good to have
boundaries.
Borders that cannot
be crossed
without an invitation,
engraved.
Embossed.
Carefully weighed
as a mature woman
we consider
dinner guests
knowing now
what it means:
cleaning,
shopping,
cooking
& cleaning again.
I think we need
territories,
distinctions.
The place that
means work.
And the one
where work
can’t intrude.

I myself
don’t own a cell phone.
And have decided
I should.
So I can walk
& talk,
as though I’m
so important
I can’t do one
thing at a time.

3/9/00