Sunday, June 24, 2012

Laundry Day


Life is an album.

Some of the pages we will turn.

Some of the pages will be turned for us.

Some of the pictures will be sharp and clear, the result of a perfect symphony of the chemicals and electricity in our brains.

Others not so.

Some pictures will be washed out - by our tears and the need for our souls to grow and move on.

Our albums are filled with public snapshots of big moments – birthdays, graduations, award ceremonies, weddings, baby showers, baptisms, bar mitzvahs and anniversaries.

And private snapshots of countless small moments – the snapshots of the befores and afters of the big moments – which hold just as much gravity for us.

For the empty nester –

         --------the bookshelf of children’s books reminding us of the gurgles and chuckles of the bubble-blowing grade school days.

        --------the vacated room of a child gone off to college – with its empty hamper and bare desk.

         --------the tee-shirt hanging in the closet which, even after being washed, still has the power to bring back the combination of the body wash, deo and lotion which was their unique scent.

My neighbor Cindy captures the feelings for us in her poem, Laundry Day...

Laundry Day

I’ve kept an old brown
T-shirt of yours, a shirt
I was supposed to mend but never did.
At first it smelled of sweat
Mixed with Old Spice cologne.
Now the scent is all but gone.

Every load, it comes out from under
My color-coordinated outfits.  My fingers roll
That faded shirt up into a ball, and I
Breathe in the stories you used to tell.
I stand rocking your worn out shirt
The size of you, minus 20 years.

P.S. As always thanks for reading and please visit again.

P.S. If you liked this post, here are the links to other posts written by Cindy which are available on my blog:




2 comments:

avid reader said...

Loved it Minoo!!

Minoo Jha said...

Thank you - I am glad you enjoyed it