the sweeping shape 
as the poet with broom in hand,
attempts to make it all neat and tidy
and in the dustpan 
and then taken to the sidewalk.

the piled-up words, a children's story
that starts on one page and proceeds to the end.

but life rarely comes with readymade pages.

the illustrator needs to color the images
or interpret the rhymes
with a sharp wit or a wink or a hidden mouse 
in the corner of every page.
or how about a moon rising?
or a chocolate chip cookie, with a bite taken out?
or perhaps a caterpillar?
 
so many ways to color the pages of the day,
s
weeping up the words into the bin
,
tidying the edges,
knowing that the words 
will need to be tidied tomorrow too.

so the poet puts away her broom,
sails from the room,
returns to the page, 
stays on the shape of today's story, 
hoping to spark a thought of 
domesticity,
of home.