Some things should be done before going to bed

OK.  I know I*m not the only one this applies to.  I am still not a morning person, despite the children.  Some things, maybe most things, should be done the night before, or at least wait until the afternoon.  Today I am grateful for a husband who brought in the newspaper before he went in to work.

Some things should be done

Before going to bed.

Dinner dishes,

Paying the water bill,

Reading the fine print.

It helps to wake up

With clean plates,

A clean slate,

The cat in the lap;

A cup of coffee

Set to brew

The night before;

The morning newspaper retrieved

And thrown

In the living room,

So walking out to retrieve it

From the end of the driveway

In floral flannel pajamas

Does not create scandal

In the neighborhood

Or among the scandal-prone children.

It helps to wake up

And not have to do

Almost anything

Immediately.