I burned a candle in the bathroom
  and the smoke stained up the wall
I’ve burned candles in other bathrooms
  and never had this happen
It was a new candle – how was I to know –
  yet it seems proof I lack common sense

I sent a Mother’s Day card to Missouri
  where the folks said they’d visit Grandma
Mom’s neck pains flared, they canceled the trip,
  and no one called to inform me
My carefully selected card winged its way
  to the Show Me state where Mom never saw

I feel I have failed at the details of life
  forgetting birthdays, never wrapping gifts
Leftover chocolates melt under glass
  in the too-hot sun of early morning
I forgot they would be sitting unprotected
  ‘cause I’ve no blinds on the eastern windows

Light bulbs burn out and stay dark
  because no ladder I own is tall enough
Dry cleaning sits for days and days
  with the kindly old man down the street
Newspapers sit in piles unread
  and usually unrecycled, too

Someone really ought to fix the bathroom sink
  water pressure has trickled to nothing
I need a few new shirts for summer but
  I cannot be bothered with shopping
And there’s a cord still affixed with masking tape
  right across my living room floor

Why am I so miserable at the details of life
  unable to accomplish the simplest tasks?
I’d rather read for hours in a hard wooden chair
  sipping a cold cup of coffee – straight black
While all these chores remain undone
  and the flowers on the table slowly wilt

But, hey, I make the bed every morning
  and I usually clean the cat’s litter box
And I’ve kept those two houseplants alive
  ever since my sister abandoned them
There is always a bottle of wine to be had
  hell, there’s usually several to choose from

And when I wake in the morning to see the sun
  dance in inexplicable patterns on the lake
I realize that the important details are not
  lighted bulbs and gushing water pressure
But smiles and hugs and the kind words of friends
  these are the details that last