Do not rub gently with that Handi Wipe!
Those germs need lots of elbow grease.
Rage, rage, against the rusting of the pipe!
The time for disinfection is over-ripe;
the battle against bacteria will never cease.
Do not rub gently with that Handi Wipe.
Let your scouring be the prototype.
I need to see the stain of sweat’s release.
Rage, rage, against the rusting of the pipe!
I don’t want to hear a complaint or gripe,
or I guarantee your check will decrease.
Do not rub gently with that Handi Wipe.
Don’t miss a spot; give more than a swipe—
or else those germs will never surcease.
Do not rub gently with that Handi Wipe.
Exert yourself if you want to earn a stripe!
Uncover every dirty little nook and crease!
Do not rub gently with that Handi Wipe!
Rage, rage, against the rusting of the pipe!
A member of the Texas Institute of Letters, Scott Wiggerman is co-editor of the forthcoming Unknotting the Line: The Poetry in Prose from Dos Gatos Press. He is the Haiku Foundation’s Guest Editor for selections of Haiku of the Day during National Poetry Month, April 2023, with the challenging topic of LGBTQIA. Widely published, Wiggerman is stoked to have a haibun—“To Get There”—in Contemporary Haibun (Volume 18) of the Red Moon anthology series for the best English-language haibun published in 2022.
