ode to stains

embrace your stains

those blots of evidence

physical prints of memorable or

not-so-memorable times

still footprints of

life

echoing throughout the day

tattooing your very person

&

connecting you with every other human that

lives amongst you

the spit, the snot, the coffee, the ketchup, the

oil, the ink, the glue, the lipstick, the

bastardized blemishes, blotches, soils,

spatters, splotches, smelly

drips, popped zits &

all those

sinister smirches & swapped

secretions left by now forgotten passions---

yes,

they all show a life that has been lived & we

who decide to keep them

walk around with a visually defined

personal encyclopedia of our experiences

wrapped round us as a billboard for the world to see---

so lift up your washer &

like chief bromden did the sink

in one flew over the cuckoo’s nest,

hurl it through the window---

free yourself of the starch white “presentable” world

(a flat flawless plane of fashion with

no memory) &

walk with those of us who are not afraid to scream at the

top of our lungs the etchings of this

fleeting élan vital,

for our

vast breadth of incidents, encounters &

sloppy meals

shine ever so uniquely amidst

the rest of the pristine &

downright

boring.