Borrowing my daughter’s apartment
For a family snowshoeing holiday,
We find appliances intractable.
In her absence the coffeemaker
Does not start, the dishwasher
Stalls and the gas oven
Ominously clicks before warming.
Worst of all, the satellite
Antenna transmits static.
Possessions, more permanent than persons,
Protest abandonment by their owners.
As our dog barks and assaults
The pen when we depart,
Her vacuum cleaner coils
Its cord around our ankles,
Trash barrels flip their lids, and
The security alarm rings
Unceasingly when we set it.
An audience is sought by the copper
Musical antique car
Playing “On the Road Again.”
Ruby wine glasses wink
And blush to catch our eyes.
Things, less transient than humans,
Fear people may disappear
Leaving them like seaglass on the beach
To be repossessed at. public auctions.
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