that empty space under my feet, w/audio

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wordancer
Senior Member

since 2000-07-30

Posts 809
VA

0 posted 2002-08-01 08:00 AM

Click for audio

sometimes
i just feel like scrubbing a floor
that there is something complete
about just me and this empty space
under my feet
that needs to be clean
and made right
with not a lick & a promise
a damp mop
a languid swing to & fro
and I’ll get back to you
someday
sometime

really, i promise

i remember
20 odd years or so ago
a floor that needed to be made right
down in sulfur, louisiana
in apartment
in another life
a huge dining room floor
covered in white linoleum
grayish and scratched
from many families before
endless lives rendered
over & over

i remember
that one hot summer night
i got down on my hands & knees
and scrubbed that acre of endless white
to think about nothing
and everything
lost dreams
hurts
sorrows
thoughts of
tomorrow

i scrubbed that floor
with a bristle brush, steel wood pads
and long tracing swirls comet cleanser
digging the dirt out
of the scratches
nooks and crannies
a endless night of making it right
then afterwards for two days
i laid down coat after coat of acrylic floor polish
gradually filling the scratches
of this floor so worn that
the polish
just sank in
layer
after
layer
after
layer
finally on the second day
that floor started to shine
and with the last coat
it was done
not a new floor
but hopeful
in the illusion

we moved several months later

there has been other floors since that time
that have i scrubbed on my hands & knees
in the middle of the night
in knowledge
that there is something complete
about just me and this empty space
under my feet
that needs to be clean
and made right

IHOPoets, your Poetic Home

[This message has been edited by wordancer (08-01-2002 08:01 AM).]

Joyce Johnson

Member Rara Avis

since 2001-03-10

Posts 9912
Washington State

1 posted 2002-08-02 11:44 PM

I can understand this. Scrubbing the floor. Scrubbing worrisome thoughts away. I can see you on your knees and the next caretaker of that rug will probably never know why she inherited such a beautiful floor covering. Joyce

pegasus111
Member Elite

since 2000-07-27

Posts 2219
ocala, fl, usa

2 posted 2002-08-03 10:14 AM

It would be wonderful to be able to scrub away our cares and worry, begin anew, clean and unscared. It is a dream we all share but, short of complete memory loss, we never quite attain the desired result. But we must try because it is our nature to seek closure. Well done my friend.

the woods are lovely, dark, and deep, but I have promises to keep, and many miles to go before I sleep...Frost

Moon Dust

Member Elite

since 1999-06-11

Posts 2177
Skelmersdale, UK

3 posted 2002-08-04 09:28 AM

Ah making a fresh start and trying to resolve life I do that a lot

If your afraid of the dark, then why did you come?

ellie LeJeune
Member Elite

since 2000-01-10

Posts 4156
King of Prussia, PA USA

4 posted 2002-08-11 12:37 PM

Ah, so much to think about here... I know when I'm upset and worried, I clean like a maniac to just do something with all the pent up energy and it works...I would have loved to have seen that floor!! hugs

A friend hears the song in my heart, and sings it to me when my memory fails.

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