A Laundry List of Reasons

Ink stains the spotless

Like silver on glass

Reflecting pure gold

Though my heart’s made of brass

Quills mend the parchment

Silk stitched, verses thread

Pillow thought garments

Quilt comforts of bed

Wells unveil colors

Envisioned by saints

Landscape of language

Soul’s palette and paint

Tasting each line

Black on ivory soap

Washing my mouth out

’Til gleaming with hope

Slate spilled on chalk-white

Lead steeping, loose-leaf

White cotton tea-towels

Dyed with poetry

Housekeeping, laundry

Darks bleed on white

Clean, I pin up my flesh

On the prose-line to dry