Dancing to Different Tunes
Scrubbed vacuum: the notstuff notcluttering;
indwelling ghosts of possibilities in this space;
rarities of imagination taking pride of place
while the 2 a.m. unbusyness of things
soothes the way to something being done with a fullness of attention;
with the keenest love of the white page,
smoothed bare-table flat, to better consume you.
Here I go: promptly hustling things into drawers, fitting
places, appointed, in the tight dance of order –
arranging the unquiet air. Order. Stilling
the would-be chaos, averting a tide. Things, things,
not getting on top, taking over. And (if you look)
something about my clean spacious spaces does
leave room. You get me? Touch of OCD has an upside, yes?
*****
Your stuff is everywhere.
You fling the already flung, reshuffle your jumble.
Ignore the already, the static, the cornery and no-longer.
Give the purely top stuff another spin – looking (I'm guessing) for signs
of anything practically shooting into life, dancing
clean out of the room. What is it you hear?
Do I get you? I think: a glimmer, but still feel nothing.
Let me find a pristine enough daughterly yes.
Angela Arnold has been published in various UK poetry magazines as well as online. Her poems have also been included in anthologies produced by Templar, Frogmore Press, Eyewear and others. Her collection In|Between, about "inner landscapes" and relationships, was recently published by Stairwell Books. She is also an artist and a creative gardener. You can find her here: @AngelaArnold777
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