The vacuum
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Transcript of The vacuum
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THE VACUUMBy: Howard NemerovIlluminated by: Anthony Herron
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The house is so quiet now
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The vacuum cleaner sulks in the corner closet,
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Its bag limp as a stopped lung, its mouth
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Grinning into the floor, maybe at my
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Slovenly life, my dog-dead youth.
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I’ve lived this way long enough,But when my old woman died her soul
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Went into that vacuum cleaner, and I can’t bear
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To see the bag swell like a belly, eating the dust And the woolen mice, and begin to howl
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Because there is old filth everywhere
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She used to crawl, in the corner and under the stair.
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I know now how life is cheap as dirt, And still the hungry, angry heart Hangs on and howls, biting at air.
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The house is so quiet nowThe vacuum cleaner sulks in the corner closet, Its bag limp as a stopped lung, its mouth Grinning into the floor, maybe at mySlovenly life, my dog-dead youth.
I’ve lived this way long enough,But when my old woman died her soulWent into that vacuum cleaner, and I can’t bear To see the bag swell like a belly, eating the dust And the woolen mice, and begin to howl
Because there is old filth everywhereShe used to crawl, in the corner and under the stair. I know now how life is cheap as dirt, And still the hungry, angry heart Hangs on and howls, biting at air.