Blessings for Cleaning Your Parents’ Hoarded Kitchen

by Kellie D Brown

Blessed are you who scrape family

photos off the sticky linoleum floor

for you shall be seen.

Blessed are you who look to clocks

that don’t keep time

for you shall persist.

Blessed are you who scrub soiled dishes

descended from many generations

for you shall inherit reprieve.

Blessed are you who toss putrid

potatoes and expired soup cans

for yours is the manna of heaven.

Blessed are you who sweep

decades of dirt and detritus

for yours is a clear conscience.

Blessed are you who vie with

ants and all trespassing pests

for yours is the companionship of angels.

Blessed are you who stand waist-high

in empty bags and boxes

for yours is the fullness of Christ.

Blessed are you who unearth

painful memories and triggers

for you shall find solace.

Blessed are you who hunger and

thirst for healing and closure

for you shall be filled.

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Dr. Kellie Brown is a violinist, conductor, music educator, poet, and award-winning writer of the book The Sound of Hope: Music as Solace, Resistance and Salvation during the Holocaust and World War II. Her words have appeared in The Galway Review, Earth & Altar, Amethyst Review, Psaltery & Lyre, Writerly, and others.