For Florenz: “The Laundress” by Paola Corso

from The Laundress Catches Her Breath

The Laundress
 
 
1.
           
Sheets are wet
 
worrisome mounds
in the basket, socks
     a pair of sorry balls
 
dripping in self-pity,
 
underwear a limp limbo
of cotton blends
                 no longer soaking wet
 
and not yet dry
                
waiting to be hung by a woman
            who scrubs away
      original sin
 
on a rock
 
along the stream
            with her hands
                 and the strength
 
            of resolve.
 
2.
 
            Sheets are hung
 
on the line, socks
clipped at the heel,
     drawers droop
 
with fear of never taking shape
from human proportion,
                 a clothesline low in the middle
 
as if bowing its head, waiting
                
 to be propped up by a woman
            who raises this offering
      that much closer
 
to where
           
the air gathers
puffs of wind
                  with breath enough
           
for divine intention.