179. the White Sargasso Sea
we were sitting, becalmed,
in the white Belfast sink
in the warm sudsy water,
me and a giant green block of Fairy
in our own little heaven;
“mind your feet” says mum,
adding hot water from the
gas heater on the wall
as she tips the Oxydol
into the washing machine
burbling & splishing away
in the corner
and looking down, she says
“have you been playing with yourself ?”
and I have no idea what she means.
It occurred to me
many years later
that women just do not realise
that these things
literally
have a mind of their own.
So, none the wiser,
and lacking any further
discussion on the matter,
I carry on molesting the Fairy
in my sudsy soapy sensual Sargasso Sea.