I bought a dishmop—
having no daughter—
for they had twisted
fine ribbons of shining copper
about white twine
and made a tousled head
of it, fastened it
upon a turned ash stick
slender at the neck
straight, tall—
when tied upright
on the brass wallbracket
to be a light for me—
and naked,
as a girl should seem
to her father.
Public-domain source text
Youth and Beauty
by William Carlos Williams
From Standard Ebooks · standardebooks/william-carlos-williams_poetry
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