Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Groan - A Poem

You don't want to wait for hot water from my kitchen faucet, because you could gather twigs and logs, strike a flint rock 67 times to spark a fire, haul water from the crick (or creek, depending on what part of the country you're in), and set it a-boil quicker than hot water travels from the water heater to my kitchen sink. This means, of course, [any green people close your eyes, grope blindly for your mouse, and scroll past this paragraph] that some gallons of water in goodly (/badly) numbers are soaring down the drain while I wait for warm. I'm not about to wash my hands in a glacial flow mid-February. I won't do it.

If any crows were in the house, they'd fly about 15' from the water heater to the kitchen sink. I can walk it under 18'. I'm convinced that the people who -- over a span of 120+ years -- piggled together this house in bits and lopsided pieces, piped that water up the wall, into the attic, down through the living room, into the crawl space, and back across the house into the kitchen. What a great sense of humor they had! (NOT)

So I was exasperated for the 637th time last evening, as I waited for some warm water to present itself. As it happens, we also need to replace the faucet, which is taking on air somewhere and invariably sets up quite a squawk when it's turned on. If my mood is grunchy, I grab the spigot in a stranglehold and shake it until it shuts up. This time, though, I decided to leave the sink and tend things elsewhere in the kitchen, while the hot water was running wherever it goes before it appears in the sink. And I growled as I walked away: "*grrrr*"

Suddenly, I realized the faucet's groan had changed. And out of the mouth of the least poetic person walking the face of the earth (*raising hand*) came this utterance:

The groan
Changes tone
When the water is warm!

Does that count? Am I a poet? Like renowned poets of the past, am I inspired by the tragedies of life, as I draw from the innermost, creative parts of my being and utter profound, moving, lyrical statements which will one day be published and read with rapt attention and admiration?

The groan
Changes tone
When the water is warm! ©

And you knew me!

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. ~John 4:14

1 comment:

Ginger said...

So you are a poet and might not have known it!!! Or maybe you did? We have an upstairs bathroom that takes FOREVER for the warm water to reach. Aggravating since it is also uninsulated and freezing.....!!!