99poems/cleaning

I watched
in wonder
at my mother’s
spring cleaning,
hired help
a rarity –
they tore into
the place
together –
two women
in a swarm
of energy.
I was electrified
by it –
they wiped
the windows
in tandem,
one on each side,
door knobs polished,
hardwood floors
waxed and buffed.
It was,
more than anything,
a great reprieve
from the loneliness
our house
always seemed
to have.

5/27/99