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CaPoWriMo-10 (motherless andhadi)

mother is on vacation
in a foreign country
away from son and husband
leaving me to do the dishes

do the dishes - mind the spoons
don't land at the bottom
the tamarind doesn't clog the sink
the vessels don't clatter and clang
and bring on angry neighbours
while the clothes are washing

the clothes are washing
coloured one in first batch
towels and undies to go in the next
and then to be hung out

to be hung out
the outer clothes on the balcony
with a ladder and a stick
and the inner ones dripping
in the rear balcony

in the rear balcony the broom and mop
stand there grumbling silently
about the dusty stain bedecked floor

the dusty stain bedecked floor
piled over with books and gadgets
screaming loudly to be re-placed
on their respective shelves
which gloat and induce guilt
about the undone dusting

undone dusting and uncooked food
and unfolded clothes and unbought groceries
and unpaid bills and undisposed garbage
how did she manage them all
i need to know but
mother is on vacation

(Published in Cerebration 2011)

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