A poem by Paul Brookes
to and fro the iron
over bedsheets, his shirts,
as she stands three hours
hot poker of pain
in the small of her back,
lists what else to do,
take down window nets,
wash and iron,
vax front room,
lug it upstairs for bedroom,
carpets,
hoover front room,
lug it upstairs for bedroom
carpets,
clean windows inside
to and fro,
to and fro
polish beneath knick knacks
bought on holiday,
to and fro
strip and remake beds,
make his tea,
always meat and two veg
He arrives home and says,
“What have you ever done for me?”
Paul Brookes has performed in the poetry performance group Rats for Love and is included in their 1989 Rats for Love: The Book (available from Bristol Broadsides). His first chapbook, The Fabulous Invention of Barnsley (1993), is available from Dearne Community Arts.
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