Cleaning Slate

The chalkboard, green, and dark, smooth
A few spots that never wipe away
I wonder how they were made
But now they are just part of the chalkboard

When it's time for a new design I wipe away
The old markings with a damp cloth
No bother with erasers that leave so much dust
But even when it's wet and smooth
Moments later I find dried streaks of colour

So I developed a system, a method to clean
I wipe several times, each with a new side
Of the cloth. I can see it come off in the dye
It transfers even when I had thought it was clean.
Then comes a time when I have to decide that's enough

I wipe one last time in a pattern of swirls
So that when it dries at last, the faded streaks
That I cannot erase
Are to my design. And I know they are there
I have chosen them for my new blank chalkboard.
And then I begin to draw again