Poetry Sunday: The Zen of Housework by Al Zolynas

This one caught my eye with its title. I'd never thought much of housework as being a "Zen" activity. My interest was piqued and so I read.  The line about the glass being full of the "grey wine of domesticity" made me smile. And so I decided to share it with you. Let me know what you think. 

The Zen of Housework

by Al Zolynas

I look over my own shoulder
down my arms
to where they disappear under water
into hands inside pink rubber gloves
moiling among dinner dishes.

My hands lift a wine glass,
holding it by the stem and under the bowl.
It breaks the surface
like a chalice
rising from a medieval lake.

Full of the grey wine
of domesticity, the glass floats
to the level of my eyes.
Behind it, through the window
above the sink, the sun, among
a ceremony of sparrows and bare branches,
is setting in Western America.

I can see thousands of droplets
of steam—each a tiny spectrum—rising
from my goblet of grey wine.
They sway, changing directions
constantly—like a school of playful fish,
or like the sheer curtain
on the window to another world.

Ah, grey sacrament of the mundane!

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