Phases of Home Life

after Alison Smithson

What is desire if not municipal shame? Wipe
the formica daily down, be alert: recognise
your prime at no matter what aesthetic the time
occurs, for learning to love – when the clocks show –

For learning to love anyone is like receiving a death blow
in the Ideal Home Show. Lipstick ringing at
the edge of the wine glass like grandmotherly
gold. Like dishwasher salt,

hold your time-saving devices close, and your lovers
ever closer as technological advancement bears down
on the ominous horizon. For learning to love anyone is like
an increase in property, and what is your time if not your own?

Rigorously separate the children from the traffic jam
Rigorously separate the achievements from the man

Bend me over the kitchen table. Tell me I belong
in the marks made by your arm. For learning to love
anyone is like an increase in property: it increases care,
& brings many new fears lest precious things should come
to harm.