Vacation Blues By Frank De Canio

           Vacation Blues 

I’ve started on a working vacation.
There’s much to do, a lot is on my mind.
So there isn’t time for relaxation.
I’ve got to find a way to stop the grind.

There’s much to do, a lot is on my mind.
I ought to find a worthwhile vocation.
I’ve got to find a way to stop the grind.
I’m starting with self-examination.
 
I ought to find a worthwhile vocation.
I’ve got to stop not being productive.
I’m starting with self-examination,
as the budding spring becomes seductive.
 
I’ve got to stop not being productive.
And I’m trying to get off the treadmill,
as the budding spring becomes seductive
and I begin to lose my vaunted will.
 
And I’m trying to get off the treadmill;
to start swimming in oceans of freedom.
But I begin to lose my vaunted will.
The more I think, the weaker I become.

Starting to swim in oceans of freedom,
I sink in a groundswell of abstraction.
The more I think, the weaker I become;
the more intent, the greater my distraction.
 
I sink in a groundswell of abstraction,
darting frenetically from thought to thought.
The more I think the greater my distraction
from fantasies that leave me overwrought.
 
Darting frenetically from thought to thought,
I ponder if I’ll see that girl again
with fantasies that leave me overwrought,
as I start to think of her more often.
 
I ponder if I’ll see that girl again,
imagining her naked and supine.
As I start to think of her more often,
I’m coming closer to the finish line,
 
imagining her naked and supine.
I’ve started on a working vacation.
I’m coming closer to the finish line,
so there isn’t time for relaxation.

Born & bred in New Jersey, Frank De Canio worked for many years in New York. He loves music from Bach to Amy Winehouse. Shakespeare is his consolation, writing his hobby. As poets, he likes Dylan Thomas, Allen Ginsberg, and Sylvia Plath. He also attends a Café Philo in Lower Manhattan.