Reaching in she pulls the paddle over and under trying hard
To remove the scum gently
If only she can be gentle enough with more time or patience her inner voice says
It will be just as it should
Again she works to remove another cruddy layer in determined silence
The other voice tells another story
Walk away abandon it, save yourself it beats a stronger rhythm than before
A clang awakes her from her reverie
Nothing clings to the paddle at her side so she checks the waste bucket at her side
Perplexed at its emptiness of anything solid
Realising that all along the shift was something she thought she was doing
But she skimmed the surface of an empty barrel
What she tried to perfect , put right is nothingness and just how she wonders
Could that ever be done?
©AilsaCawleyPoetry2016
ailsacawley 