Laundry – Poem – November 2022

Folding laundry tonight
Memories popping up as I pulled things out
A sheet, a memory of folding wet sheets at our motel
Pinning them to a clothes line under a sunny, blue sky.
Later collecting them, crisp, fresh, folding them and
Placing them in our rolling laundry basket

The rags, old diapers that are now used to polish silver
As the memory unfolds, I try folding one
Like a diaper as I did so many years ago
All I need are large safety pins
And a small one who needs a diaper
With rubber pants to keep the wet inside.
I fold it back into a square and put it back with the rags.

Going back further, to college, Sunday mornings
I’d take my laundry to the laundry room in the dorm.
Cramming as much as I could into a washer, putting in the
Three quarters for a wash. Perhaps six quarters if I absolutely had to
Split clothes into two loads instead of one smashed together load
Spreading the clothes out to several dryers because they were free.

Other memories, the joy of doing laundry at home when
My husband and I bought our first washing machine
Hanging diapers on a clothes line while my son toddled around
Our yard, following our dog while she looked for a place in the sun
A breeze flowing through the diapers, the hint of ocean salt
Carried from miles away.

Eventually using a dryer because there was no time to pin clothes
Wait for them to dry and bring them in.
The washers and dryers changed through the years
The clothes and other things did too.
Small baby clothing changing to toddler size
Eventually to small boy, growing boy,
Teenager and young man sized clothing.

My  husband’s and my clothing changing some with fashions
But mainly in colors and patterns as we also grew older.
With new towels and sheets occasionally flitting by.
The memories flow through my mind, all the years
Of folding laundry and putting it away.