Jane Piirto: "Tomorrow, Today, and Yesterday"

the 3-year-old, wanting to know what day
it is asks everyday what day it is
we tell her Tuesday or Saturday etcetera
then she asks what day it will be
tomorrow and we go through the naming
of tomorrows in order
chanting the future like a litany

tomorrow is when she wakes up
in the morning and when we tell her
we'll go shopping tomorrow she
remembers yesterday and informs us
that it is tomorrow that today is
yesterday that therefore the time is
always now to do what we plan to do
tomorrow

"Tomorrow, Today, and Yesterday" by Jane Piirto, from Saunas. © Mayapple Press, 2008.

Image credit: Unknown, though it may be by E. H. Shepard, the illustrator of A. A. Milne's Pooh books (originally color).