You know the old story Ann Landers tells <br />About the houseife in her basement doing the wash? <br />She's wearing her nightie, and she thinks, "Well, hell, <br />I might's well put this in as well," and then <br />Being dripped on by a leaky pipe puts on <br />Her son's football helmet; whereupon <br />The meter reader happens to walk through <br />and "Lady," he gravely says, "I sure hope your team wins." <br /> <br />A story many times told in many ways, <br />The set of random accidents redeemed <br />By one more accident, as though chaos <br />Were the order that was before the creation came. <br />That is the way things happen in the world: <br />A joke, a disappointment satisfied, <br />As we walk through doing our daily round, <br />Reading the meter, making things add up.<br /><br />Howard Nemerov<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/poetics-2/
