settling dust

don't look too close
i excuse this mess
as month-old dust settles
upon my desk

it lives here
on computer screens
on piano keys
and books of dreams

Among danish plates
and a candle holder
on picutre frames
growing bolder

on children's art
papers in a pile
on stacks of bills
resting there a while

settling, into
a comfortable place
filling the etchings
in the glass vase.

lo, the candles do burn
and the piano sings
the books get read
and the doorbell rings

paintings are drawn
and games are played
while the dust settles
and the bills are paid.

slowly, so slowly
i move down the hall
and clear the dust
last of all.