I changed my voicemail greeting every day.
It centered me, and let my callers know
if I was likely to be reached that way,
until last year. I bid the custom go,
retiring. Still, I kept a calendar
on paper: spiral notebooks, twelve a year.
Recording dates and projects made me sure
I’d not neglect the needful. That’s more gear
my future doesn’t want and I won’t mind,
but 40 years of habit cannot end
at once and without bumps. I’ll leave behind
the deadlines, notes and plans, but won’t pretend
a course without that ballast is sublime.
It may take months, adjusting to free time.