doing the dishes

dishes don't
get done by themselves
nothing passive

still hand-done
by us

only two
at home
and not all day

but the sink fills
strange grammar
since
the sink
passively
accepts, is receptacle
of dishes

then
we stand
and wash
dishes, pot, pans, cuttlery

then neatly arranged
in fancy racks
gifts from relatives
who only buy the best

sixty dollars
a dish rack
in their expanded
renovated kitchen
and I
praised, complimented
their dish racks

holds lots of
dishes and more
a sink load

but
it neither
washes them
nor puts them away

the kids say
we're too old
to stand by the sink

should
buy a dishwasher
mechanical, electrical

but it won't
load nor put away the clean

and I know
I know my customers

they'll pile the dirty into the clean

so feeble
as they think me

I still prefer
to don my rubber gloves
scrub the dirt off
by hand on feet

and decorate
the sixty dollar racks