It’s the first Friday of the month, which means it’s time for another Inkling challenge. This month, Molly “thought it might be fun to write a poem about some sort of domestic task. (Writing a poem = way more fun than cleaning!)” She shared “Spring Cleaning,” by Ellen M. Taylor to inspire us.
I actually don’t mind cleaning, but I mind the time it takes. There are so many more interesting ways to spend my time. Still, I manage to keep the downstairs of our house under control. The spare bedroom upstairs in another story!
For some unknown reason, I decided that this poem should be a sonnet. My relationship to sonnets is the same as my relationship to cleaning: I like the idea, but the execution is always flawed. (Iambs are not my friends!)
There are three main forms of sonnets: Petrarchan, Italian, and English, or Shakespearean, along with many variations. I chose one of these alternatives, the Spenserian form.. Spenserian sonnets vary “the English form by interlocking the three quatrains (ABAB BCBC CDCD EE).
Household Dreams: A Sonnet
Someday soon I’ll sweep away the clutter.
Tables and shelves won’t be covered in dust.
Clean sheets, unfurled flags of hope, will flutter
On fresh breezes. My conscience will be shushed.
No longer will I betray the trust
Of window panes longing to shine.
And the kitchen floor will be nonplussed
When it’s mopped to reveal its design.
These lofty goals all sound just fine,
But this hectic pace could not be sustained.
Unless the planets and stars all align,
Domestic perfection won’t be attained.
I’ll ignore the mess, let it go to seed
I’ll sit here all day, just knit, write and read.
Draft, © Catherine Flynn, 2022
Please see how my fellow Inklings responded to Molly’s challenge, then head over to Karen Edmisten’s blog for the Poetry Friday Roundup.
Margaret @ Reflections on the Teche
Linda @ A Word Edgewise
Heidi @ My Juicy Little Universe
Molly @ Nix the Comfort Zone
Mary Lee @ Another Year of Reading
Reading to the Core 
Bravo! Those window panes…longing to shine. They must know the window panes in my house. Look at you taking a challenge to next-level difficulty! Love your rhymes and near-rhymes…nonplussed…ha! Great job with this challenge.
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“Nonplussed” is a great word and a nice surprise. I particularly like your last two lines that sum everything up.
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Evidently, my neighborhood needed windows to shine. Someone posted a window cleaner they liked & so many people signed up that he said he could not do it! A sonnet, wow! And all to show your motivation for “unfurled flags of hope” among the other tasks. Love it, Catherine. It makes a list for me!
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A sonnet!? You go girl! I love it.
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Wow! You were feeling ambitious and you totally nailed it! I love those “unfurled flags of hope” and the windows “longing to shine.” I especially appreciate how you ended. 🙂
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So impressive! If you clean the way you sonnet, your house must be immaculate!
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Huzzah! I loved all the little details that were so familiar — windows longing for shine, a kitchen floor that reveals a pattern when mopped…all that’s missing is Molly’s green grout (mine actually goes pink, but why split hairs)!! Here’s to shushing our conscience WITHOUT having to dust the blinds!
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You really unfurled the flags of that rhyme scheme, Catherine–wow! and I love that the window panes and the kitchen floor have opinions. We are all dancing around the “good enough,” aren’t we?
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