wordsout by godfrey rust
Welcome To The Real World  < 21 of 59 >


A Little Bit of Everyday History

Adore your door

Hey there.
Isn’t there someone
you’ve been taking for granted?
Isn’t it time
you thought a little more
about your door?
In a recent poll
the door was voted
the third most under-rated
piece of household furniture.
So here
at the Friends of the Door
we’ve brought you
fifty things for you to do
to make more of your door:
Open it.
Close it.
Open it again.
Walk throught it.
Talk to it.
Ring (twice if you’re the postman).
Leave it on the latch.
Go back to check its locked.
Slam it.
Jam it.
Handle it
with care.
Hold your breath
and listen for a noise behind it.
Don’t harm it.
Alarm it.
Unlock it and take it with you
to McDonalds.
Employ a local youth to stuff newspapers though a hole in it
taking care to tear all the most interesting pages.
Look at it through a keyhole.
Lock it.
Don’t knock it.
Make an entrance through it.
Slink out of it.
Ring it up
and see if it’s home.
Rap it.
Catflap it.
Post a letter to it through it.
Hide two Jehovah’s Witnesses behind it
then disconnect the bell.
Bang it.
Hang it.
Put your name on it
to make it feel like it belongs.
Catch it.
Latch it.
Stick a number on it
to let it know it counts.
Sand it.
Understand it.
Paint it red.
Paint it black.
Then take it to a Rolling Stones concert
to make it feel at home.
Scrub it.
Chubb it.
Maybe take it off its hinge
for a binge.
Don't fail it,
Yale it.
Nail 95 theses to it and start a new religion.
Hold it open for a friend.
Shut it on a salesman’s foot.
Let it beat you at draughts.
Early in the morning
close it softly
so as not to wake it,
and last thing at night
don’t forget to lock it
so no-one can break in
and put it in their pocket.
Don’t ignore your door
but adore your door
if you only would—
it’s only wood.


First of five poems in the poetry/mime production Only Wood, with John and Carina Persson.

© Godfrey Rust 1995, godfrey@wordsout.co.uk. See here for permissions.