Soapy suds and lemon-sweet spray
Swirling round the dishes and pans
Crumbs swept down the gulping drain
Once fallen off the cliff of granite counter
A splash of water to rinse the porcelains and glass
Passed on to rest and dry, water evaporated
And the vanished with towel and rag
Stacked away to come again, tomorrow.

Cleaning, rinsing, washing I don’t mind one bit
It’s a secret world of battle fields and movie theaters
You see the leftovers, the what has happened
The aftermath of spaghetti or who fired first
When the dust has settled and company is all gone
The quiet of clean kitchen, flowers on the table
Coffins with draped flags, credits rolling on
Stray graduation caps, church bulletins, playbills under seats
Stray wanderer, a janitor, wandering through
Hand easing over chairs or edges of craters
To see what’s left of the echoes of what just happened
The echo of a drop in the sink