Wash Day - Joan Raleigh

‘Mind you see that while I’m out
you wash those dishes clean and nice.
Don’t forget to poke the spout
and check the glass is rinsed alright!
Set the water nice and hot,
(you can’t clean things with lukewarm suds),
and do the floor while I’m in town,
I want to see it bright, not brown!’

Now no-one’s such a pain as she,
and so I made a cup of tea;
then turned the taps on, cold and hot,
the water filled the plates and cups.
It filled the bowl and then the sink,
(I think the cupboards had a drink).
The water seeped across the floor
into the sitting-room next door;
it washed the rugs and more than that,
it washed the sleeping Persian cat.
And so the house was washed right through,
while I had tea, and biscuits too!
The moral is, she shouldn’t oughta
command the use of all that water.

Joan Raleigh