Scott McCloskey from Michigan is our host today for the first day of our October Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com. He inspires us to write Questionable Products Poems – the kind with a slant of an ode to something that raises our eyebrows in wonder, disgust, or utter surprise. You can read his full prompt here. Be sure to check out the links, too, at the bottom – for those strange things we all need.
My Mark on the World
speaking of unboxing gifts
I’m inventing the next big thing
because of all the things that
annoy me like the partially squeezed
twisted toothpaste tubes or
velcroed soap with melded slices sticking
like a bloodletting leech to a larger bar or
handwarmer mugs that brand palms or
already-used weekly sandwich bags or
damp half-paper towels drying to be recycled or
all those other quirks like the holy
t-shirts because they’re good for tractoring
what annoys me the most is the simple
kitchen dishtowel that never
-do you hear me? never –
and I mean never, ever, ever not once
not once –
makes it back to the oven handle
where it is supposed to hang out
unless I put it there myself
it’s not really even a dishtowel, per se,
it playfully pops behinds and serves as a napkin
for powdered donuts and
wipes counter messes and
occasionally dries a dish
but it naps, crumpled in comfort on counters
on the table
on the bar
on the coffee table
and so I’m inventing one
with invisible GPS homing strings
to draw it back
to where it goes
so that I will have left
my mark in this world
right in the hearts of
kitchens all over
the world
in the smiles of wives
worldwide
Common Threads 
You got me with this one. You know what my better half does with the dish towel? Drapes it over the container of clean cooking utensils! I cannot stop this behavior. I need your device!
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