Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Ode to Dishwashing


Cleaning dishes
Morning till night
Making wishes
I set things right

Like Nguyn Sinh Cung
America-bound in the rolling galley

Breathing scalding steam
Among the girlish waiters
On the sterilizing machine
Every evening I stayed later

Comme Eric Arthur Blair
Aux coudes dans la vaisselle des Bourgeois

Making lukewarm suds hotter
Over mother’s dish grime
Swirled red grey water
Slick after bathtime

Like Malcolm Little
Wiping away stains of injustice on the train

Not wasting action
Crowded Japanese pad
Gas fired contraption
No space to be had

Like Bill Murray
Washing his soul in the Ganges

1 comment:

  1. all I have to say on this one is a dishwasher saved my marriage.

    I liked the last line a lot!

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