I stand at the sink, alone in my thoughts,
as I scrub the dishes clean.
An exercise in rote repetition,
I load the dishwasher most nights.
As no other area in my life,
there is a place for everything--
each dish, each plate, each sippy cup,
each glass, each bowl, each pot, each pan
and all forks, knives and spoons—everything
has its place.

The sound of the watering running commingles
with my wife’s cheerful voice reading bedtime stories.
The mix of sounds is occasionally punctuated by Stripey,
our parakeet—he talks to the water,
as if its another bird chirping to him.
I am asked for water, snacks or walk-ups to bed
for bedtime prayers, in the midst of this dish routine.
Life is good, from where I stand,
dish scrubber in hand.

September 10, 2003

I wish I was as prolific a writer as you are... *sigh*

James: You're probably one of the most humble and grateful dish-washerers I've ever known.....thanks for the poem.....:)

Thanks Paul and Joan.

Hey Paul, It is easier to write a poem than work on a novel. I have never worked on a novel, but that seems like a dauting task.
How is that coming? Could you work on that some while you are doing your security instead of whatever video game. Or splite time doing both. Couldn't you easily email the work you complete to yourself? Just a thought.

Poorly.

I have been working on it at the security job. Or trying to. I have a laptop, which is very useful.

That's cool. I have a book checked out from the library, The Writing Life, by Annie Dillard, and she says in the book that it takes anywhere from 2 to 10 years to write a book. There are those rare people who can write a book in a year, but not many. How long have you been writing your book?