Confessions of a Doormat

(The Relativity of Humility and Dignity)

i lie in meek silence on the floor
i lay inert by the callous door
i, naked, so bare: for barefoot souls
and shielded soles.

i humbly cleanse filth and floes
from soiled shoes and grimy toes
when into the door each foot goes.

i wait in timid stillness
the creak of door as it opens mornings
and stay awake till it closes nights
leaving me in chilly shadows.

i endure in docile tranquility
the crushing yoke of gravity
(with the weight of men arduous
the burden of women callous
and the load of children tedious).

still, I remain proud
that to my job I am true;
and fulfilled too, that by me,
those who enter the door
do so, with clean feet.

- a doormat
is between
dirty and clean.

(c) Chito L. Aguilar