Pipe dreams

They stuff your heads with cotton-fluff-brainwash,
dreams of pens and ink and paper.
But why does it really matter at all?,
if I don't do my homework? or Why does it matter,
if I don't write my research paper?
Why does it matter if I haven't showered in three days,
if I'm not dressed "smart-casual", and all my clothes stink,
if I skip breakfasts, and
if I skip lunches?

A success (singular noun):
is to be able to read at a bookstore, or write a day away,
or laugh steam in the winter air, marching defiant, punching sky,
or lie down in the sordid, car-exhausted snow when you are tired of walking
when you are waiting for buses at bus stops on spring mornings,
and wish on contrails drifting, falling across in the empty blue afternoons,
and hear the whir of fans and dehumidifiers alone late, late at night,

to hang out with friends, and play music at clubs, for the rest of your life
And everyone and the world tries to make it so hard!,
and a bird with clipped wings and a missing toe!,
and I worry my day away
--how much really matters at all?