Use the Vacuum, or Even the Broom, Next Time She Said to Herself

one hundred cornflakes all over the floor / little feet stepping / each time breaking / each flake / into / a hundred new flakes I sigh I bend down / and I begin / picking up each one by hand / it would be easier / of course / of course / of course / to use a vacuum or even the broom / but / of course / I don’t think of that until the job is  all but done / of course / but the job is never done / and there are puzzles and books and papers and crayons and dolls and trucks and bits and pieces of a life / in the middle of living / if archaeologists dug our / house out of the rubble of time / frozen exactly as it is now / they would know just how we lived / and what we wore / and what we ate / but they would not hear your laughter / your little voices calling / your feet padding / down the hall / en route to new adventures / they would not see / that spark in your eye / of creativity as you make / a paper towel roll into a telescope / of discovery as you learn you can hop on one foot / of understanding as you read your favorite book on your own for the first time / they would not see it and / yet it is priceless to me / more / precious than any / neanderthal man / dinosaur bone / pharaoh's tomb / and even / as I clean it all up / this mess / your mess / my mess / our mess / the chaos of our lives / priceless and precious to me.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

ThanksGIVEaway

Come Take a Tour

Well, That Was Unexpected