Wednesday, 14 March 2012

It'll Only Take a Minute


It'll only take a minute
Just while baby has a sleep
I can iron it with one hand
While he nestles to my cheek

It'll only take a minute
Just to wipe this surface clean
While I'm making up his bottle
And I'm listening to him scream

It'll only take a minute
While he's playing on his mat
...But he's spit up his dinner
Before I've fed the cat

It'll only take a minute
To hang the washing out
It must get done today
No matter how he shouts

It'll only take a minute
Even I have to be fed
But when I get that minute?
I'll just go back to bed

3 comments:

  1. Lovely poem. My days are filled with so many: "It'll only take a moment"s.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a fab poem and reminded me of another poem about housework and babies which I love:

    Song for a Fifth Child - by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

    Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
    Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
    Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
    Sew on a button and make up a bed.
    Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
    She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
    Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
    (Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
    Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
    (Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
    The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
    And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
    But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
    Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
    (Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

    The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
    For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
    So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
    I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh that's a wonderful poem Beccy thank you for sharing!

      Delete