I'd love to help

I'd love to help
with the broken tumble dryer
and the water that flooded the floor
of the utility room
that ruined our shoes
and your coat that had fallen from its peg
I'd love to help clean
the pile of soaked newspapers
waiting to be put into the green box
and recycled.

But even if I called a plumber
sorted out the the drainage
and the pipes
even if I got out the mops
and fetched the sweeping brush
from the garage

there would still be
the pile of bricks
where the conservatory used to be,
the broken cement mixer on the driveway
the fraying mouldy curtains in our bedroom
and the layer of melted cheese
at the bottom of the oven.