SINGING WITH SATISFACTION

 

If he stares down

into the darkness of a drain

and sees deposits of sediment

that have settled there,

he smiles and sets to work.

First he digs around

in the darkness of the drain

with an old clothes hanger,

then runs the water

and sees it drain faster.

Then he pours Drano down,

and listens to the fizz

like voices speaking softly.

He waits for fifteen minutes.

He sits on his comfortable couch

and says some Shakespeare sonnets.

He stares at leaves

hastening past the windows.

He sees in his mind

the silver water

flowing freely away.

He hears it singing with satisfaction

on his hands

as he washes them over the drain.