What do you think?
Rate this book
The Kitchen Doesn't Stay Clean for Long : A Book of Poems
A kitchen is never truly clean.
Some days, the sink overflows, the dishes pile up, and the mess feels endless.
Other days, it looks spotless — not because life is easy, but because someone worked hard to keep it that way.
The Kitchen Doesn’t Stay Clean for Long is a collection of intimate, layered poems that uses the kitchen as a metaphor for the upkeep of the mind, the body, and the soul. Through five core chapters — Sink, Hands, Dishes, Filth, and Cleanse — Delane traces the quiet labor of the moments we break down, the moments we endure, and the moments we choose to stay.
Each chapter is grounded by a Dishwasher — a prose reflection that slows the reader down, offering space to breathe, reset, and reconsider what it means to keep going. These moments are not solutions but pauses — reminders that maintenance itself is an act of care.
A final Bonus Chapter, What Washing Didn't Erase, holds what remains after everything else has been scrubbed, revisiting past poems that reflect what healing does not erase. The book concludes with reflective analysis, inviting readers to step beneath the surface of the poems and engage with the meanings, emotions, and questions they stir.
This book is for anyone who knows that staying alive, present, and honest is work.
For those who clean up, fall behind, try again, and show up anyway.
For anyone who has learned that growth isn’t about being spotless —
it’s about returning to the mess with gentler hands.
Some days, the sink overflows, the dishes pile up, and the mess feels endless.
Other days, it looks spotless — not because life is easy, but because someone worked hard to keep it that way.
The Kitchen Doesn’t Stay Clean for Long is a collection of intimate, layered poems that uses the kitchen as a metaphor for the upkeep of the mind, the body, and the soul. Through five core chapters — Sink, Hands, Dishes, Filth, and Cleanse — Delane traces the quiet labor of the moments we break down, the moments we endure, and the moments we choose to stay.
Each chapter is grounded by a Dishwasher — a prose reflection that slows the reader down, offering space to breathe, reset, and reconsider what it means to keep going. These moments are not solutions but pauses — reminders that maintenance itself is an act of care.
A final Bonus Chapter, What Washing Didn't Erase, holds what remains after everything else has been scrubbed, revisiting past poems that reflect what healing does not erase. The book concludes with reflective analysis, inviting readers to step beneath the surface of the poems and engage with the meanings, emotions, and questions they stir.
This book is for anyone who knows that staying alive, present, and honest is work.
For those who clean up, fall behind, try again, and show up anyway.
For anyone who has learned that growth isn’t about being spotless —
it’s about returning to the mess with gentler hands.
Kindle Edition
Published December 20, 2025
1 person is currently reading
1 person want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.