At the End of the Day

At the end of the day, it’s good

to take a hot shower, the spray

of water running down our bodies

and tired muscles, soap-scrubbed,

washing away the dirt and sweat

of our lives, old bodies toiling in the sun

and humidity of humanity’s work, learned

over long years laboring, to sustain

ourselves, our lives and the life of this place,

this planet we call home, free to grow

and thrive, pursuing that which makes us

happy, contented, and giving us a reason

to rise again and work some more,

washed clean again at the end of the day.

 

It’s too bad, at the end of the day, we can’t

as easily wash off the dirt and grime

of the self-claimed powerful and moral,

those who make us feel dirty, powerless

to keep ourselves clean of them and their abuses

heaped upon this old world, no shower strong enough,

long enough, to cleanse us, at the end of the day.