The next right thing

My beloved and I sit at the dining table, name the things which must be tossed or given away.  This weekend we will completely clear the room for our exchange student.  Next weekend is for redecoration.  

I think about the person I sat with years ago who had a dirty white chair in her living room.  It loomed every time she walked in the house.  We made a plan together to get that white chair cleaned by the next time we met..  That one simple act got her unstuck.  It seemed magical to me. AA often talks about doing the next right thing.  I found myself offering the same counsel this week to another client.  Today we sit at the dining table and identify the next right thing for this weekend.

The room which will hold

Our French exchange student

Beckons.

Now the door,

cracked open,

Allows the possibility

Of emptying,

Then cleaning.

The Halloween decorations scream:

Light-up eyeballs,

Shivering ghosts,

The spider we put

In the front hallway

Many years ago.

Mr Green,

The talking miniature Christmas tree:

He cackles.

Endless partial rolls

Of red and green wrapping paper

We never could find every Christmas.

So each year

We added more.

The candle lights

For every window

Are there.

One fell

Burned a hole in my carpet

In Boston.

The room beckons

With holiday trappings,

Its door cracked open.

The deadline looms.

Two weeks from now

France arrives to stay with us

For two weeks.

All three of us

Most always

Work to deadline.