Litany

In many ways, a litany

is like a bar of soap, a very old

bar of soap found in the corner

of the medicine cabinet, behind the mirror;

thin like a bleached shell

dug with half a dozen dark half-moon

fingernail crescents,

and folding at the edges like a stale,

damp fortune cookie.

In many ways,

a piece of faux wisdom is better carved

on a bar of soap, where it can be rewritten

again and again

and wear itself thin

cleansing the soul, and the body,

and the mind.