Hygiene

Sorting through the sale bin
with my right
hand,
looking for
something red and lacy
to match the
something red and lacy
in my left
hand.

Do you always wash your new underwear
Before wearing them around town?
Of course,
I said,
To not do so would be simply
un
civ
il
ized!

Sorry,
I said,
To the three women standing around,
eavesdropping.
Sometimes lingerie shopping just does that to me.
But,
now that I have your attention,
Would you want to know
what makes me cringe?

Every time that I buy a new toothbrush,
I push
along the perforated cardboard edge
and wearily tear
the plastic from the cardboard
of the uniform packaging
that vigilantly protects its contents from the outside world.
But,
before beginning that common routine,
I pause

To think about its story.
What do you think they do in there?
In there at the factory

I imagine some poor worker
hard up on cash, and late for work
again.

And

Again.

So, punished by the foreman,
made to scrub the tile floor
on his hands
and on his knees
methodically and
with a toothbrush.

He gets up slowly, after he's done,
and looks around.

After the manager has gone
to fix a cog in the machine,
or to tell Johnny B. to pick up the pace,
he walks over, rinses off the brush,
and slips it back
into the production line.

whistling
row row row your boat
gently down the stream
merrily merrily merrily after
life is but a dream!

And from then on, every chance he gets
he picks up a brush fresh from the line
and licks it
then watches it move on down
until it is slipped
between plastic and cardboard,
and sealed
and shipped
on down the stream.

Somehow,
after that,
I just never feel quite as minty-fresh as I used to.

Six eyes look up from the sale bin,
paused in the hunt for a Valentine’s Day treat.
Three tongues run over ninety-six teeth
And, politely, I offer them a breath mint.