Last night Pa said to Ma: 'My dear, it's gettin' on to fall, <br />It's time I did a little job I do not like at all. <br />I wisht 'at I was rich enough to hire a man to do <br />The dirty work around this house an' clean up when he's through, <br />But since I'm not, I'm truly glad that I am strong an' stout, <br />An' ain't ashamed to go myself an' clean the furnace out.' <br /> <br />Then after supper Pa put on his overalls an' said <br />He'd work down in the cellar till 'twas time to go to bed. <br />He started in to rattle an' to bang an' poke an' stir, <br />An' the dust began a-climbin' up through every register <br />Till Ma said: 'Goodness gracious; go an' shut those things up tight <br />Or we'll all be suffocated an' the house will be a sight.' <br /> <br />Then he carted out the ashes in a basket an' a pail, <br />An' from cellar door to alley he just left an ashy trail. <br />Then he pulled apart the chimney, an' 'twas full of something black, <br />An' he skinned most all his knuckles when he tried to put it back. <br />We could hear him talkin' awful, an' Ma looked at us an' said: <br />'I think it would be better if you children went to bed.' <br /> <br />When he came up from the cellar there were ashes in his hair, <br />There were ashes in his eyebrows- but he didn't seem to care- <br />There were ashes in his mustache, there were ashes in his eyes, <br />An' we never would have known him if he'd took us by surprise. <br />'Well, I got it clean,' he sputtered, and Ma said: 'I guess that's true; <br />Once the dirt was in the furnace, but now most of it's on you.'<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/cleaning-the-furnace/
