Twenty-One Epigraphs for Poems Celebrating the Retirement of Work Addicts

Only disconnect.

Slow down aggressively.

Do nothing and rest afterwards.

Sit, stare, and move the wall.

You have the right to remain silent.

Nothing-happening is not a threat.

Revel in redundancy.

Put all your goals in a box and burn that box.

Love to do what’s now.

Quiet your mind, hear your soul.

Embrace the lean elegance of choice.

Trick yourself into happiness.

Cultivate primordial confidence.

Revel in the groundless paradox of ambiguity.

Ponder: Where does “it” take “time”?

Be proud of your humility.

Celebrate a chasm’s closing.

Peel off the remnants of demands.

Remind yourself: Nothing is as good or as bad as you anticipate.

Believe Truth will find you and make you beautiful.

Stand outside yourself and revel in the ecstasy.

Carolyn Martin’s poems and book reviews have appeared in publications throughout North America, Australia, and the UK. Her fourth collection, A Penchant for Masquerades, was released in 2019 by Unsolicited Press. She is currently the poetry editor of Kosmos Quarterly: journal for global transformation. Find out more about Carolyn at www.carolynmartinpoet.com.