Sharon Ashton
The Inadequate Housewife
Some time after fifty she stoppped cleaning,
stopped washing walls, stopped swilling the yard.
She stopped placing china as if it held meaning.
The boy next door was still slapped each evening,
and old men stroked little girls caught off guard.
Some time after fifty she stopped cleaning
herself; stopped the morning and evening preening,
stopped starching collars to the texture of card.
She stopped placing china as if it held meaning.
Her husband consented to electric healing,
and smoked alone as her jaw was clamped hard.
Some time after fifty she stopped cleaning,
but convulsions restored her to lipstick and ironing,
until voltage after voltage left her jarred.
She stopped placing china as if it held meaning.
Now she doesn’t look up or out in the evening;
birdsong is muffled - her senses are marred.
Some time after fifty she stopped cleaning.
She stopped placing china as if it held meaning.
Page(s) 32
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