And the washing still out drying - by
the day got up with a hang-over
/ birds played hide and seek
/ with a boy’s flung stones…
washing clothes
Mother - by
All this last week I have been thinking
of my mother, thinking of her taking
up in her arms the creaking basket
of clothes, without pausing, up to the attic.
As the child looks on - by
his mother pulls the linen
/ from the cord.
/ She flaps each sheet,
/ folds each vest.
/ Collars are starched,
/ skirts are dressed.
/ She is spit, she is…
Mangles - by
Washboards and mangles are on my father’s mind.
/ In conversation he will return to the soaked linen
/ of his childhood –…