Cleaning anything involves making something else dirty, but anything can get dirty without something else getting clean. (Laurence J. Peter)
Maple syrup spilled
in the back of my refrigerator.
As I scrub, beeps sound
a warning. Close the door. Now.
A fridge’s chill skill weakens
when heated air threatens its territory.
Maple goo has attacked a jar of pickles
This won’t take long, I hope.
I scrub, giving no anesthesia to mechanical
cries. Yet when I wait on hold
for three-calls-ahead
at my local pharmacy
during a pandemic rage,
I sometimes sigh and pace, as if
the workload of a short-staffed drugstore didn’t exist.
I have an agenda. Twenty-six hours forced into twenty-four.
A bit at a time, I say to the fridge
opened for briefer moments.
A more intensive task comes next.
Removing stickiness inside me.
terrypetersen 