Car Washing - A Poem

Car Washing

Today is spring break
and sunny -
the perfect day to scrub winter off of the family van.
Sometimes I get a hankering to teach
my daughter.
Today is lesson #4,892
in being THOROUGH.
(Possibly my very favorite word).
My daughter is five.
She chooses the rags
and sprays the van
and rubs the wide sides in roving designs of muddy soap.
And then she is gone,
reappearing with maracas
to cheer on my hard work.
And then back with pom poms
and then a world atlas, from which she pretends to recite
scattered lines from The Jabberwocky.
I want to redirect and reel her in -
show her yet another daily application
of being THOROUGH -
the satisfaction of stretching a rag stuffed with pinky finger
into every metal groove of the hub caps
the glory of scrubbing
each inch of the top of the minivan
that nobody ever sees.
But today the warm breeze blows me wise
And I bite my tongue
And allow her to be THOROUGH
in nothing but the things that she does best.

Written Feburary 17th, 2015
By Metta Prieto