Pee and Poems

I have marveled at this before, but I will do it again: It is amazing how much work gets done when you sit down to do it, without interruption. Sunday night I realized that I had 129 pages of reading to do for class today, so of course, I panicked. I did no work this weekend - none. I read The Year of Magical Thinking and did no writing. I also slept a lot. A lot. Looking at the syllabus I also realized I had a fair bit of writing to do, so the only thing to be done was to spend all day Monday reading. To my amazement, it worked. I sat, I read, and got it done without procrastination or distraction. I am sure everyone around me knew I was not immersed in some scientific paper, but in my own reading, but I am beyond caring.
Speaking of beyond caring, I have not heard back from the job I applied for. It's been less than a week, so I am not giving up home, but I will soon. Oh well, I will persist elsewhere.
Also, this morning I wrote what I think will turn out to be revealed as some pretty bad poems. I haven't written poetry since I was in high school, and it definitely wasn't very good back then. Maybe I'll start to like it, but so far my experience this morning was somewhat trying. It is hard to not sound like you are being intentionally obscure. It seems like there should be a truth revealed in the poem that cannot be revealed otherwise, and I think it's this sensibility that I haven't been able to grasp. I get it with images, just not with words, yet.
For example: Several months ago someone posted in each of the stalls of the women's bathroom signs requesting that people not place paper towels in the toilet. They read:

PLEASE DISPOSE OF PAPER TOWELS In the TRASH CAN
PLEASE DO NOT DISPOSE OF PAPER TOWELS IN THE TOILET
THIS WILL PUT THE TOILET OUT OF SERVICE
THANK YOU!!!

I visit this bathroom several times a day, and it's the only bathroom on the floor so there is no alternative. I have had ample opportunity to contemplate this signage. Where can I begin? There is so much to say. Initially what struck me was how patronizing this is. All caps, shouting at you while you pee - a jarring message to face when all you want to do is relax for a couple of minutes while you take a leak. The shouter, clearly thinks we, the ladies of the fourth floor, are idiots. Maybe someone did wipe themselves with a paper towel once. It's possible that there was no toilet paper and paper towels were the only option that day. I am sure that whoever knew that this may clog the toilet, but I highly doubt they were willing to crumple up the soiled C-fold towel and walk it outside the stall and into the trash can by the sink. This would involve holding a pee-soaked paper towel in your hand while you pull up your pants, close you labcoat, and other wise adjust yourself. There's simply too many steps involved before even getting to the trash can.
Over time, the meaning of the sign has been obliterated. It is now a just a serious of phrases, sounds. The other day as I was getting up I read the third line as: IT WILL PULL THE INNOCENCE OUT OF THE TOILET.
Since then, I can't get the feeling of the words innocence and toilet out of my head.

PLEASE DISPOSE OF PAPER TOWELS IN THE TRASH CAN
Every day in the stalls of the women's bathroom:
Please don't put paper towels in the toilet.

It will pull the innocence
Out of the toilet.