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LAUNDERING
by Kristyn Y. Reid
copyright © 2001



Ludlow Press Poetry

Laundering

My brain switches to autopilot.
I can wash these grimy clothes
with strong soap

'till they emerge clean and fragrant,
and fold each item, neatly
stacking them into prim skyscrapers.

But with each blink of sheer blue
my balance falters and towers topple.
No detergent proves powerful enough

to cleanse the steel
of bodies and buildings cremated
in the hate of jet fuel and fanaticism.

The president implores us
to get back to normal, but I no longer
recognize what that is-

my heart has imploded
and my tears have leapt
from their observation deck,

and they remain irretrievable
in the rubble of despair and
ash of abhorrence.

I launder clothing but
it's not enough-
the stains, I fear, are permanent.

Kristyn Reid is a native Oklahoman and currently resides with her husband and three children, three cats, two pups and a parakeet on a couple of wooded acres in Choctaw, Oklahoma. She currently has poems listed in Tamafyhr Mountain Poetry at tmpoetry.com and Pedestal magazine at the pedestal magazine.com
 E-Mail: mkchoctaw@worldnet.att.net

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