The Irish Girl At Close Of Day

I tried to wash a small rug,

But the fringed ends got hung up with the agitator,

And poisoned my machine from within.

By the time I heard the buzzer,

There was only black water that wouldn't drain

And a hot smell in the air.



Things break down--

I can't fix them.

Things fall apart--

I can't even pay somebody to fix them.

My car is old,

Not looking so good--

I know just how it feels.

I know

Things go to hell and there's nothing I can do.



I had a love--

Now she's gone,

And time just goes on.

If I knew it was the last time,

If I had even thought it was the last time,

I'd have quit my job;

Smashed my watch;

Started living in my car.



I have all these poems,

Like faces in a movie house.

Last summer, they set off fireworks over the park,

And, with the rest, I oohed and ahhed.

Then we went home, each a different way,

And summer dragged on.



Now it is September--

Things break down,

And I can't fix them.

Things fall apart,

And I can't even pay somebody to fix them.

I am sober,

But I want to get high.

I want to listen to Joni and Melissa,

--those familiar songs--

And forget.

But my stereo won't play the way it should,

So I did dishes in the silence

And recited Yeats in my head as best I could recall it--

Until the day gave it up, fading, irretrievable,

And it was late enough to go to bed.
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