One-Pointed Attention

Lucy, I envy your one-pointed attention.
Never seeming to do two things at once,
how do you get everything done?

I learned long ago to do several things at once.
My parents taught me through example:
Dad could
sit at the dinner table,
eat,
read the newspaper, always the funnies first, and
carry on conversation all at the same time.
Mom always listened to the radio and glanced at
the mirror, no matter what else she was doing

I can't help but
read while I eat,
read while I use the bathroom,
listen to the radio while I drive (and drink coffee),
glance at the newspaper when I talk to someone,
drink coffee as I do therapy.

Do you get distracted, too, Lucy?
Do you fantasize about your pal Remington while
playing ball?
Do you dream of bones lost and balls found while
you hold a sit-stay?
Do dogs worry about
death,
vision loss,
hearing loss,
incontinence,
cancer,
poverty?

Who is going to take care of you in old age?
Will you experience doctor-assisted suicide without
even asking for it?
Where are you going when you die?

Or are you always here in the present,
alert to the opportunity for,
food,
the chance to go for a walk,
for someone to pet you?

Teach me one-pointed attention, Lucy;
I long to be here fully, too.

For me, being fully present is tough;
I may be in one place, but my mind is often somewhere else-
in the future,
in the past,
in daydreams-just not here.