Hey 🙂
When I read today’s words I just instantly thought of someone washing their hands, and what I ended
up with pleased me – although it felt like the speaker was writing it, not me!
I think my line of thought was skewed by ‘ubiquitous’, as I have been thinking about people no longer in my life, what with the January ‘taking stock/looking ahead’ vibe that seems to creep up on me every year.
Wash Thrill Spare Thick Narrow Ubiquitous Fierce Soggy Typical
As I wash my hands –
Watch soap slip silently;
The thrill of cold water
Numbing to nothing –
I can see a spare sock
Stuck under the doorframe
Just a little bit;
The rest too thick to fit.
And our child, standing,
Staring at that sock;
Pondering his next move.
Flexing a narrow finger.
The weight of your absence
Is ubiquitous here;
A fierce silence, rent
By pointless everyday.
And I dry my hands
On a soggy towel,
Suddenly knowing that
I’m finished with typical.
I love the questions this poem throws up.
I love the way it focusses on small things and then makes a big statement.
I love how the washing of hands becomes symbolic of fresh starts and a letting go, the towel maybe signifying that the speaker’s tried before many times (it being soggy could also mean tears, and hark back to the ‘weight’ a few lines up) but is suddenly resolute.
I really don’t think I’d change much about my poem 🙂
What did today’s word generation make you think of?
Recent Comments