Wash Day - June 27 2022

 

Wash Day

June 27 2022

Wash day,

and no matter what time of year

laundry hangs outside.

Thoroughly wet

the line sags heavily,

while the small metal wheel

in need of oil

creaks noisily under the load.

In winter

pants are cardboard cutouts

frozen stiff,

intimate apparel

looks skimpy and cold.

Still, even in the arctic air

they will freeze-dry,

given sufficient time

and a little sun.

In spring, damp clothes

take on the freshness of first growth

the smell of thawing soil.

There's an edge of woodsmoke, as well;

which hangs low

in the cool morning air,

and depends on how seasoned the wood

and if it's spruce or birch.

And sometimes, there's pollen,

so on a bad day

they can come back covered

in a thin sticky dusting

of the dull yellow stuff.

In summer, multi-coloured clothes

flutter like prayer flags

in a mountain monastery

in thin Tibetan air.

They dry quickly,

and can smell of flowers

freshly cut grass

and meat on the grill.

But the bugs are bad today

and they're calling for rain.

So it's into the drier

to tumble dry.

Or hung inside,

dripping

on the cold concrete floor

in a damp basement

under harsh fluorescent light.

Where the ceiling is low

and the joists exposed

and furtive spiders roam

at will.