It is a sense of guilt,

a Methodist instruction

or perhaps

a reminder of my own pound of flesh

owed, measured

and found to be in

continuous debt

if I plan some time away,

even from just doing

the pressing down of keys,

there is the voice in my head that whispers,

no, no, no,

you must, you owe your time

to everything else but you, for you,

the voice whispers,

have nothing else to do.

Ian D. Hall 2018