Bought a new mop, today,
Been forgetting, don’t mop much,
Anymore. Guess aging rentals rule energy
‘Displacement’, why bother? When
Fifteen years have passed, living with
Chaos, breathing copper, raising kids,
In a smallering, cinder-block house.

Bought a new mop, today,
Wanted my rented floors clean, no one’s
Here to mess them up, but me and the cats.
Prepped and swept the area to be mopped.
Cleaned the five cat dishes and their mats, threw
Wayward shoeware back up into the bin, combined
Leftover cat food bags into one, and a half,
Uncovered as much floor mopping
Space as I could.

Bought a new mop, today,
And relished its first use, under
My computer desk and chair, the second
And third finished the dining room.
Took a break, tackled the kitchen.
The ‘cat feeding’ station was the worst,
My daughters’ canned food aim
Isn’t always so good. Was mopping furiously
From the back door back towards the middle-left,
When, the mop broke.

And, I started crying.

Picked up the mop’s head, disbelieving,
Viewed the handle, couldn’t quite figure out how
To put them together, inconsolable, knowing
Part of the fuel was family-torn moments, uncleansed,
In its torn-moment, it really sucked! After quieting,
In my own manner, well, with a cigarette and a half a beer,
Went back into the kitchen, picked up that damn
spongey-dirty mop head, and slid it on its latches,
which I’d seen in opposite, at first look.
Finished mopping the floor.

The kitchen rugs are freshly washed,
almost done drying. The cats have been fed,
And enjoyed the clean dishes enormously,
Three went into the living room to nap off their satisfaction.
Looking to the right, seeing the floor shining, well, not
Shining, too old for that, but, unshadowed by carelessness,
Brings a sense of peace, and, orderliness.

Bought a new mop,
Today, and love my clean floors!

Erin Elizabeth Kelly-Moen
© Copyright 6/29/07