Once a Year

by Shani Kahan

Once a year you come along

And bestow upon all great stress.

Pressure, pressure, pressure you cause

And hours we must learn how that to redress.

You are like a nightmare that continues through an endless night,

All are waiting for you to end.

The morning never seems to come

And the amount of anxiety you bestow upon us is too much to comprehend.

Sleepless nights, and worried minds is the only thing you bring about.

Of us you expect to surrender all our time to you,

Preparing endlessly for your arrival,

Which is the day each and every one of us rues.

A plague is what you are,

Each and every one praying for your end.

Serene, we are undoubtedly not,

 But for what others think of us we must pretend.

You are our dictator,

Just like Egypt’s pharaoh.

We are your slaves and the only thing you are capable of is

Making us work for you until out of our bones comes the marrow.

Unlike the freedom summer showers upon us,

You lavish us with the possession of no free time in our hands.

For the duration of your presence,

All focus is given to you and we are forced to follow your commands.

Unlike Mrs. Zabinsky and the happy duration of April

You are simply cruel and evil.

You are nothing but a bother, an annoyance,

And in all of our plans you cause an upheaval.

You claim to be for our benefit,

Yet, you are stripping us of the ability to enjoy even life’ simplest pleasures.

You forbid us from any source of enjoyment until you are gone,

But the thought of your nonexistence is an out of reach treasure.

How can such a short word consisting of only

Five letters and two syllables bring about all this trouble?

We should learn to conquer this mighty force

Since next year the trouble this final brings about will only double.