in the shine of copper-
bottomed pots, polished
wood, toilets she'd pull
the lid to--that look saying
Let's make a change, girl.
But Sunday mornings are hers--
church clothes starched
and hanging, a record spinning
on the console, the whole house
dancing. She raises the shades,
washes the rooms in light,
buckets of water, Octagon soap.
Cleanliness is next to godliness...
Windows and doors flung wide,
curtains two-stepping
forward and back, neck bones
A centuries-old proverb (but not, as is sometimes assumed, a biblical quotation). 
 Nearly every religious tradition and belief system in the world has rituals associated with cleaning, purging, or purification. 
 

Domestic Work 1937