Homework

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Homework

Homework sits on top of Sunday, squashing Sunday flat.
Homework has the smell of Monday, homework's very fat
Heavy books and piles of paper, answers I don't know.
Sunday evening's almost finished, now I'm going to go
Do my homework in the kitchen.  Maybe just a snack,
Then I'll sit right down and start as soon as I run back
For some chocolate sandwich cookies.  Then I'll really do
All that homework in a minute.  First I'll see what new
Show they've got on television in the living room.
Everybody's laughing there, but misery and gloom
And a full refrigerator are where I am at.
I'll just have another sandwich.  Homework's very fat.

~ Russell Hoban

It's been awhile since I've had to do homework myself, but I remember how I'd feel on Sunday evenings when I still had work to finish.  Hoban describes it very well in this poem!  I like his image of all those papers and books squashing the fun out of Sunday.

My three children aren't procrastinators like their mom, so they're usually finished with all of their weekend homework on Friday night -- smart kids!  However, I bet they'd still agree that homework's very fat. :)