‘God hangs out Her washing’ – Ash Bowden

She started with a slap of Her hands on Her knees

For laundry day is a day of toil

And She first separated out the protons and electrons lest they cause explosions

And She ironed the stubborn quarks on the backs of supernovas

And She shook out the quasars and laid them on the radiation

And She sighed out across the void

For the atoms had been left in too long and shrunk

And she picked the lints of dark matter from between the folds

And She plucked the stars out one by one

And She shined them with hydrogen to sparkle just so

And She pegged Her new planets on with a parent’s touch

And She clutched a cigarette of comets between Her teeth

And She let the stardust’s ash fall freely down

And then She rummaged for the water and grass

For they needed a place to go

And all the animals too

And She looked around in light years

For someone might be watching

For She dragged out Her Humans

For they were crumpled and creased

And She sprayed them with an apple scented decreaser

And hung them out to dry

And She stepped back to feel a moment of the cosmic’s red rays

And then She turned and clasped Her hands together

For His whiskied breath began to blow a gale

And She prayed Her washing would stay on the line