"Chester:" My New, Simple Life

"Chester," by John Koethe, is my favorite poem of the year.  Koethe's illustration of a simple life through the repetitive mention of a cat makes me realize that "'I been away [from a simple life] a long time'" (Kesey, 325).  I was so caught up with my school work, extracurricular activities, work, and friends that my life was more than complicated.  Koethe's poem was one of the first we read, and although I understood the message he condoned, I didn't do anything about it until much later in the year.  Once everything had buried me in a pile of stress, I felt as if I was "'Not one of those whose sole aim [was] enjoyment'" (Wilde, 23).  After I remembered "Chester" and decided to apply the simplistic life to my own, "'I [felt] a strange and massive sense of relief'" (Currie, 169).  Without worrying so much about all the stresses in my life, I maintained my grades and worked the same amount of hours, spent enough time with my friends and still had time for myself and my new, simple, uncomplicated lifestyle.