No Excuses

by Anne Bach

I do not have to solve all the world's problems
or stop the wars
or save all the endangered species

I do not have to adopt all the orphans in Rumania
and all the five thousand children
in California that need homes

I do not have to "Get Oil Out"
or "Save the Wales,"
or stop rampant over-development,
solve world population,

or single-handedly fix the immigration problem
so that all my Mexican friends have great jobs
and my Republican relatives are happy too

I do not have to teach my sister
how to cry
or to find my little brother
and fix everything that ever happened to him
so that he won't be mentally ill anymore

I do not have to apologize forever
to my Mom for not being organized, orderly,
obsessive, in control, on time, caught up,
and responsible for everything
the way she always was

I do not have to go on suffering
for everything I haven't done,
couldn't fix,
and everyone that I have lost.