The Table's Dirty Poem by Rifhan Miller

So you say the table’s dirty
Then I wonder:
Do you know that for a fact or do you assume the table’s dirty?
I wish I could ask you:
Under what circumstance is that table dirty?
Did you notice a gradual degradation of cleanliness over time?
Or did you see a sudden change in absence over an extended duration?

Was your judgment applied to a passing table or one you are acquainted with?
How would the initial appearance of that table pressure your judgment?
Does a white table get dirty easily just because it loses its colour in a more apparent fashion?
Does a white table just get dirty when it’s just not completely white?
What if a white table as opposed to a brown table spots the same stain that according to your opinion constitute as a dirty spot or stain?
Is it dirty then only when the stain is visible?

If you cleaned it up and another insists it is still dirty, will that influence your opinion in any manner?
How would dirty be differently perceived if it was your own mess as compared to another’s?
How would that vary between an ‘other’ who’s your close friend as apposed to an acquaintance and stranger?
Will an arguably attractive person cause a dirtier table to one aesthetically unpleasing?

How do you compare your definition of ‘dirty’ to others and mine?
Would a dusty table be understood as dirty?
But what if it were dusty in an excessively dusty room?
How does a dusty table in a room of decomposing trash weigh against a table with decomposing trash in a dusty room?

And how would you gauge splattered paint to spilled orange juice, considering one might be toxic and another fit for consumption in an alternate setting?
Is orange juice only dirty off a glass? But you won’t die from licking it off the counter.
So is your understanding of dirty one that complies with what has been socialized within you to view socially awkward as inappropriate thus dirty?
If it was indeed socialization of cleanliness standards, should that be argued as cultural brainwash then?
So, dirty is conveniently labeled to one that does not conform?
Does this direct cause and effect make a substantive claim then?

What are the guidelines to which you subscribe in determining such?
Who socialized that benchmark to you then?
How was the benchmark substantiated?
How do you draw the line that stretches clean all the way to nauseating on the other extreme end?
How do you evaluate the line that differentiates ‘not clean enough’ from ‘dirty’?
Are there other external factors that may influence your verdict of such?

If you hated milk as compared to orange juice, does that make spilled milk comparatively revolting to you?
Well guess what: I love milk.

So I’ll ask you again:
Do you know that for a fact or do you just assume the table’s dirty?