Housekeeping

HOUSEKEEPING

I clean the corners of the ceiling.

Weaving spiders sent outside reeling.

Housekeeping gives me an odd feeling.

I write my name on the cloudy coffee table,

erasing words with the rhythm of Betty Grable.

Housekeeping is not fun or a fable.

Dust bunnies roll across the hardwood floor.

I find the vacuum turning on a roar—

doing a dancehall dance from door to door.

Housekeeping is a dreaded chore.

April Ryan

April Ryan is a retired Seattle bus driver and prolific writer, often published in Northwest Prime Time, among other places. This poem is an excerpt from an anthology called Housekeeping, a new eBook collection of thoughts on the topic—link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B3M4KW2.

SHARING STORIES is a weekly column for and about the 50 plus crowd living in the Puget Sound region. Send your stories and photos to ariele@comcast.net. Tell local or personal stories; discuss concerns around aging and other issues; share solutions, good luck, and reasons to celebrate; poems are fine too. Pieces may be edited or excerpted. We reserve the right to select among pieces. Photos are always a plus and a one-sentence bio is requested (where you live, maybe age or career, retired status, etc.).

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