I should just say no

when I come home to the aroma of freshly baked

chocolate chip cookies

“I baked a small batch,” he tells me

as though these delicious disks are calorie free

I should just say no

to another committee assignment

even though I love the collaboration

the contributions, the thinking and the back and forth

because one more meeting is killing me

I should just say no

to a new project, a new idea, a new way to share expertise

Is time like love, expanding to encompass

the richness that life offers

where somehow there is always more to go around?

But in reality

I know it’s likely

that I won’t say no

somehow, for me,

no

is the hardest word