Exhaustion

Beyond exhaustion,
closed to sensation,
all my limbs are numb,
mind registers dumb.

Soft voices float by,
acknowledged by sighs,
no strength to respond,
gazing at the pond.

Demands keep pouncing,
laboring, bouncing,
from one to the next,
working on the text.

“No, it’s not ready!”,
voice sounding heady.
“Finish by midnight?”
The pond is in sight.

A fish is skipping,
my hand is gripping,
pole in hand, I run,
my work is not done.

Fishing till midnight,
gives me great delight;
exhaustion is gone,
I’m nobody’s pawn.