Music In The Mundane // Sometimes We Are Wrong

music in the mundane

there are still notes to sing

the rolled up towels on your shelf,

meticulous melody of each tile

you scrub

orchestra of orchid petals 

strewn across your altar

popular tune of when you make

that white countertop shine

instrumental order of your polished

shoes; below the hymn of your hanging

color coded wardrobe

choral pour of vinegar into the softener

dispenser, like your grandmother

showed you, rhythm 

of each biweekly deep

clean— sound waves of smoothing

out your clean sheets

you’re so clean, baby,

sing

sometimes we are wrong

at my grandfather’s school they let him play

with mercury on his desk. Coca-Cola used to contain

cocaine, for a healthy hangover remedy. The Radium Girls

painted radium onto watchdials from 9-5 until the poison

ran down too many of their white blood cells. Smoking

wasn’t considered an irrefutable health risk until 

1956. Heroin was used as a cough suppressant. Shark

cartilage was thought to prevent cancer, even with 42

cases on record of sharks containing tumors. In the 50’s

sometime around finding out we shouldn’t smoke cigarettes, 

people infected themselves with tapeworms to lose weight. 

In 3rd century BC, we discovered the earth is round, but some 

people will still die on the hill that it’s flat. & I thought

you were it.