The Rainbow System

The Rainbow System
     (dedicated to Niki)

When the saleswoman showed me the the puddle of mud
contained in my innocent looking rug, I gulped, and thus
swallowed air resurrected by the water in the machine
To a Pureness of Quality that would please the most fanatical,
Restore Health to the most allergic and asthmatical,
and Rid the floor of its conspiracy of dust and mites
That's just how remarkable the Rainbow System is.

"What's not to like?" asked the saleswomen.  And I agree--
the system sells itself, really.  Can all that mud be from me?
And if I could refinance my domicile, I wouldn't let it
out of my site! I would snatch up this water dragon remedy
already in my house and christened with my dirt.
No.  I have seen the dirt and dust on the floor and this 
Rainbow System is too true.  I want it.  It's bliss!

I have followed rainbows before, lured by the pot of gold
Don't you know, I'm always chasing rainbows--
but not one so readily available, material, and practical. 
Not one that pays for itself, within years if not months,
and does not require upkeep like World Peace,
Rainbow Coalition, and Abraham Lincoln's Military Glory:
an "attractive rainbow that rises in showers of blood.”

The Rainbow System takes away pain, fog, and blood.
If everyone had one there would be no need for drugs!  
We'd all be singing, "Birds fly over the Rainbow, why
Oh why can't I?   We'd be happy here and protected,
not frozen stiff afraid to move.  I want to succeed 
at cleanery, to achieve an immaculate reality, 
I refuse to refute the  fact of what I have seen--
the Rainbow System is here and we can all clean!


Written for a friend who was selling the rainbow system vacuum cleaner.  Posted today for Poetry Pantry at poets Y=United.