Mrs. Zhivago irons (a home movie)

Zhivago watches his pregnant wife,

hears her purpose in the rhythmic thud

of  flat triangle stroked over cloth.

 

She takes its point into the tuck of cuffs,

follows the edge of pleats, with heat

and weight loosening the long chain bonds.

 

I look on,  share her fixed impatience

with the slightest crinkle, straightening

in my head the crooked fibres.

 

Collars are flattened wrong side first;

even in the yoke of his shoulders

creases are pressed knife-sharp, no puckering.

 

Here, we bring you this pile of lines,

smoothed and fastidiously folded.

Finish the job: put them where they belong.

 

 vi. 2009


Ariadne's Thread #7, June 2013

No comments:

Post a Comment