Thoughts At the Ironing Board

I grasped the steam-iron with left hand, the right was straightening trouser band; it felt different, unusual, its hiss and feel, serpent’s thought made me reel I imagined it come up from lake, it felt much like a rattlesnake, its heat I conjured venomed-fang, turning skin to soft marang: and devil’s tail its tongue from steam, made imagined threat so real did seem So from this thought-experiment, ironing washing as I went, I learnt to grasp the iron quite firm, for holding loose could easily burn So keep your kids and critters clear, of hissing iron with venom’s sear; and after steam its plug remove, remember poison will not move