Dirty Laundry

Many years ago, when the children were quite young, I wound up living with a friend of mine for a short period of time.  She had 3 boys and her boyfriend had a son and a daughter.  So, all totaled there was clothes from 10 people that had to be washed.  When you include towels and bedding and such this is no small task.

Friday nights, after all the kids were asleep, usually around 11 pm I would scoot down the basement stairs and my wheelchair would be brought down after me so I could get back in and begin "the night of laundry".  After I would complete my laundry, I would start on the others.  We had grocery carts that I would fold and put clean clothes into.  I would do wash till abut 7 am the next morning.

One night, somewhere in between spin and dry I looked around and penned this short poem.  I know I am missing a line in here, after all it was over 35 years ago that I wrote this...hahahahah.  You can see how traumatic the situation was.

                                                               LAUNDRY

Working and slaving through daytime's begrudgery, you say nothing is worse than housework drudgery?
Ba hum bug I say though it may sound sundry, nothing is worse than doing the laundry!!!

From cotton to synthetic the scene couldn't be cuter, to figure out which wash cycle to use you need a computer!

Torn between the whiteness of wish and the power of rumble onward into that world of grime I stumble.

My eyes bulging with worry, my head swimming with facts, I start folding the clothes and piling them in stacks.
My mohair is hairless, my blues have turned pink, my shift has shifted and my caftan is kinked.

And right in the midst of this terrible mess, I suddenly remember, it was the cat I threw in on permanent press.

Although I am doing laundry now for just me, it is still not one of my favorite tasks.