Household Item Verse Returns!

Household Item #12 [treadmill suggested by @marousia]

Workout

.
I open a beer,
turn on the treadmill, then sit
in my recliner
watching the industrious belt
convey air in unseen eddies.

Sip.

The effort spent observing
such frenetic activity
and listening
to the endless whir
of motor and wheels
wears me down.

I hear my wife pace upstairs
from one task to the next
while I remain focused
on health, visualize
myself working those muscles,
sweat cascading down
my lithe, limber frame

Sip.

until my heart is pounding
under the strain
of such arduous labor.
I pat my brow
with a terry towel,
push through
to a second wind

then stand
slightly unsteady
from my labors,
step forward and flip
the switch. Silence.
Then shuffle back
to my chair
and drop.

Belch.