The Pleasure Of Getting Dirty! (For Scarlett O' T) Poem by Dónall Dempsey

When we were small
we stood up in the sink
to wash ourselves
or before a roaring fire
all laughter & lather
being washed by big sis
in a tin bath of bubbly water
every Friday
in front of the range

the bliss
of it
to be washed with love
& dried in tenderness.
It was worth
the effort
getting dirty
to ensure our mother
would shriek:
'Just look at the state
of you! '
And before she could shout:
'Get those filthy clothes off! '

(it was amazing
what a game of football
would do
to a guy's sense of cleanliness)
you'd be
naked in the tub
waiting for
the first jug

of hotwater
poured over you.
Oh there was the pleasure
of getting dirty!
But oh there was the pleasure
of getting clean!