ode to vinegar

o vinegar, dear vinegar,
how i love you.
how perfect you are with
salt.
how delightfully you clean my
windows - dishes - laundry -
and countertops.
you absorb odours and repel mildew
you combat germs with all the force of bleach
and none of the nasal discomfort.
today alone you have helped me to
scour pots and freshen apartmenty washing machines
and sanitize the bathroom and clean a raw-chicken-y plate
and flavour the chicken as well,
o vinegar!
they say you are made from fermented grain or coal tar
and whether they've got their stories wrong or not
you are made
for making my life
clean
and
delicious.
hold your ugly gallon self proud, and doff your little cappy lid in joy
for today, o vinegar, 
the shiny, tangy universe celebrates you!