There is a Purpose

Procrastination: 

“the act of delaying 

something that must be 

done often because it is 

unpleasant or boring” ~

Cambridge online dictionary

        ~~~~~~

Dust has been banished, 

soap scum put in it’s place ~ 

down the drain, 

mirrors polished, 

floors devoid of cat hair, ……

and all the while I wondered:

“What are you procrastinating about? 

You dislike finicky housework?”

Not the first time with the puzzle, 

but now I know. 

I know that problems need sorting. 

The sorting that arises from

 the act of ‘finicky cleaning’

You may laugh, 

you may guffaw, 

you may snort in disgust 

but I see my thoughts 

attached to the vacuum, 

the rag that scrubs grime, 

the folding of stray tablecloths

until I have an orderly list of to do’s.

Tax time is always confusing!

“Organizing is what you do before you do something, 

so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.”

~ A.A.Milne

Tax Time

Setting aside the must do’s and should have’s, there were taxes to be done. April may bring showers, but April 

always brings tax time. Nerves all a jangle, it’s like edging into the unknown! My knowledge of financing an 

entire country is zip. Do we know if the money managers that we hire 

with our votes know what they’re doing? 

I can only assume that they do. 

Listening to political debates 

gives me little knowledge 

of the best person to juggle 

finances with citizens welfare. 

Balancing the budget, 

laws or not, 

is challenged 

by very human opinions, 

beliefs and biases. 

So I fill out the forms, sending them 

into the void that is the tax machine.

“You can’t know, you can only believe - or not.”

~ C.S.Lewis

Standing on End!

 Screen time

Taxes

You get it!!

“All things built with tax money are beautiful: 

so we must think or go mad.”

~ Catherynne M. Valente, In the Night Garden

Against all Calm

My back is sore

My eyes are crossed

Tax time's a bore ~

Getting it done? Such a chore!

Aroma of chicken holds sway!

The taxes? I’ll just put them away! (for tonight)

“Today it takes more brains and effort to make out 

the income-tax form than it does to make the income.”

~ Alfred E. Neuman

As For Me and My Taxes

Goals are interesting things. Goals scored in a hockey game. Goals set for a future career. Goals are some thing to be achieved. This is usually accompanied by a couple of feelings ~ ‘OMG! I’ll never be able to do everything in time!’ What is that? Low self-esteem? Lack of belief in oneself? The other feeling is: ‘omg. They’ll be so proud of me if I really do get there. I might be a star hockey player. Or..or..a world famous concert pianist.’ And that feeling? Cautious optimism? Is that a feeling or a projection?

And then there is the goal of keeping, for an entire year, all valid receipts, T4 slips and all other slips from employers ~ anything to do with income and expenditure. Gathering them all together neatly, filling out and filing the necessary tax return on time ~ or paying someone else to do it. Neatness is kind of achieved ~ coloured paper clips and a file folder helps. Whether they’re in the right order for the person that does my taxes, because I certainly don’t do my own taxes, is another issue. That may be a goal for next year…..or not. On time…..has not been one of my strong suits over the past many years. Will retirement aid in that issue? We’ll wait on that til next year, but I do have a file folder for ‘Next Years Taxes’. Creating, and using, this file folder has helped me achieve part of this year's goal to pay for the many benefits I receive because of paying taxes. The most immediate part of this year’s goal? I’m getting my taxes done and filed in the correct month if not the correct deadline date.  

“This is a question too difficult for a mathematician. It should be asked of 

a philosopher” (when asked about completing his income tax form.)”

~ Albert Einstein

2015 In Paper

A stack of papers
Files not yet put away
Gathered neatly on desk and table
Over weeks and
Who knows?  Months?
Sorted
Ordered
Tucked away in file folders
Tax files prepared for ‘the tax man’
Old statements….and I mean some are old….
Bound for the shredder.
Another year
From beginning to end
Story in statements, reports and warranties
Everything in its place.

“Nothing good in this world come for free! For everything 

there’s a payment of time or money or soul.”

~ Kellyn Roth, The Dressmaker’s Secret

Tax Time Rhyme

Each time I pay my taxes

whether end of year or not

money’s added to the coffers

for government folks to dole out.

They’re put in charge of all our dough

and make a great big pie.

Slices are cut for this and that,

some for them or you or I.

But do they do that fairly

and who really does that right?

I’m sure there must be someone

who cares about our plight.

Paying taxes is a bother, 

some would say too high

others say the balance works

still others want the sky.

One teeny tiny sample

is health care that is ‘free’,

paid for by our dollars

not from any money tree.

“I hate paying taxes. But I love the civilization they give me.”

~ Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

At the Tax Office

The line up:

quiet 

orderly 

a few muffled grumbles

no sense of urgency....just yet

Still three weeks before the deadline 

Young and old with

folders, 

manilla envelopes

shoe boxes

brief cases.

Last year’s taxes wrap up 

the mandatory financial picture of 

personal business of life          

anchored to the politics of the country.

Signatures,

numbers, 

verified

validated

review of the previous year

tomorrow’s accountability for $$ spent

without showing the experience in

quality

form

function

needed to acquire and maintain those $$

$$ do not explain how each business transaction arrived

with a set of hopes or fears

joy or anxieties.

Reduced to a mere paper trail sent 

over the wires

or in the mail

it is only money.

"Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today."

~ Herman Wouk