Blue, Green, Red and Purple: Hen's Crow
…I have delivered a big charitable box at the church door.
My life is an open book.
There are no more scuttling horrors behind closed doors…
Oh, the freedom that comes with a good kitchen clean-out. Whoop de doodle dooooo, crows Betty Collins.
Cock-a-doodle me!
I am strong, I am bold, I am fearless.
I have no hidden weaknesses; no wormhole chinks
through which you may insinuate your subtle poisons.
I need not build a screen of laughter and chatter and charm
behind which to cower and hide:
No sirree, not now, not today.
No, no, no, sirree:
.
I stand,
I face you boldly.
Hands on hips and legs astride:
I am unassailable.
I am invincible.
Today
I have cleaned my kitchen cupboards:
I have hauled out every last bit of everything:
Scrubbed with vinegar and citrus and soda:
detergent and bleach and ammonia.
There are no more crumbling memories of Christmas and people to dinner.
No more shiny jars with bright blue lids hiding weevils:
No packets of drying sugary raisins:
No little dented cardboard boxes and plastic packets sealed with elastic bands.
I have thrown away that small tupperware container of
hissing hundreds and thousands, and
those small quantities of this and that lurking in spice bottles.
Gone are the leaking packets of thyme and marjoram and caraway seeds,
the stained packets of garam marsala, turmeric, and shrivelled fenugreek.
I have packed up the excess cans of tuna and beetroot and ‘special offer’ soups,
stale croutons, smoked oysters and Asian-something-or-other,
and
the can of sauerkraut that no one will ever eat.
I have delivered a big charitable box at the church door.
My life is an open book.
There are no more scuttling horrors behind closed doors.
I am singing:,
I am elated, I am invincible:.
I march naked to the front door .
I am WOMAN!
WHOOP DE DOODLE DOOOOO!
