Collaboration

Read Write Poem for December 24, 2007

I really enjoyed collaborating with Sister AE. She was easy to work with. Having never done anything like this before, I was a bit hesitant at first, but her personality and mine seemed to blend very well.

We started with our horoscopes for inspiration. Sister's is first (She's a Leo), then I wrote the first stanza. We alternated after that ending with my horoscope (Aquarius).
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Come Clean

"If a partner can't get revved up today,
encourage them to pick up the pace."


I vacuum, and do the laundry
while you sit in your La Z Boy.

Steadily working through the mundane
chores, with an inner eye focused
beyond the immediate goal,

beyond the dust of resentment
no Pledge could ever remove.

With rag, and sponge, and spout,
each wipe, each scour, each rinse
pushes away the stain.

You sigh
when I ask you to move
so I can wash the hard-wood floor
behind your chair,
annoyed that you will miss
part of the war
you are watching
on the History channel.

Are we
doomed to repeat
our unlearned personal histories?

I could complain, throw a fit;
I could walk out the door
and leave you behind
or I could sit down
and watch TV with you.

I breathe in
the air of here and now,
then exhale my baggage,

put the cleaning supplies away,
bring out the bourbon,
and ask you to join me
on the couch
to watch Jeopardy!.


"The best connections are built in the brain.
Only an intellectual connection works"