“Dust” by Vivian C. Shipley

Dust

You are dust and to dust you will return. —Genesis 3:19

My poems pointless as Rembrandt’s Self Portrait hanging in limbo at the Frick with no one to look at him like Sisyphus I’m tired of endlessness of Covid-19 Daring to wear mismatched socks playing air guitar to rival the Rolling Stones doesn’tput a wrinkle in starched hours so I dust which makes more dust At least it is productive prompts me to create a list road dust coal dust stardust space dust Liveliest of all are dried bugs pet dander Experts say dust high to low fan blades light bulb tops Wipe toilet tank lids Swiffer the baseboard I can combat visible particles unlike deadly droplets that might be clinging to groceries while I worry if I’m walking through air where pans a jogger has been to thank Neighbors bang essential workers pots but useless I draw a heart finger Thank You on my dresser Rather than dwelling on mortality I contemplate how many motes of dust it takes to make a dust bunny Everything about me is average so my body sheds its entire skin more than a billion cells every twenty-eight days At least once a day Mother said Cleanliness is next to godliness but grace never arrives alive in bits of my husk turning in a ray of sunshine