2006/sprinklers

Sprinklers running in the rain,
one of them a geyser.
I feel guilty but it’s fun to watch.
A small household pleasure amid
floors waiting for finish,
a couch that needs upholstery,
broken lights and bills.
Lately, everything is breaking,
the cheese grater I’ve had for thirty years,
a steamer I’ve used for fifteen,
the rubber scraper which gets replaced
regularly,
but now I hear from the appliance repairman
that Rubbermaid is out of business
and they make the best ones.
I’ve bought their products since I was young,
trying to learn to be organized
from a class at the university in
home living techniques – lazy Susans
for the cupboards which I still have.
I loved that term as a child and thought
it such a fancy, town thing to own.
My mother always claimed to want one,
I’m sure that’s how I first heard the term.
She never achieved the goal,
that was the way my mother’s life went.
An older friend of mine has one though,
and serves our lunch on it.
I saw a glass one just the other day –
for outdoor tables.
I’ve lost my fascination for them,
as I have many things.
I have no desire to own one now,
I’m not sure I ever did,
I think it was my mother’s desire
I carried into my life,
trying to make up for her lack.

2/15/06