Still On The Line

We seem but to linger in manhood to tell the dreams of our childhood, and they vanish out of memory ere we learn the language. - Thoreau

as mom hung laundry

i handed her the clothespins

fond memories dried

Author's Note

"We are made happy when reason can discover no occasion for it. The memory of some past moments is more persuasive than the experience of present ones. There have been visions of such breadth and brightness that these motes were invisible in their light." - Thoreau

Reviews

[Ern M. Yoshimoto]

in 17 syllables you tell an incredibly rich story. this universal experience of washing clothes was transformed into a riveting metaphor of life. of all the small moments we take for granted, of all the people and places we remember but insufficiently appreciate. the nostalgia and regret we feel years later as we recall and wish to relive these simple moments. this is haiku.

[Pete]

yes, it is the little (seemingly insignificant at the time) things that stay with us and we cherish. i would give anything now to have that time with her back again, thank you for sharing valuable insight em.

[Ern M. Yoshimoto]

stay strong brother. i lost my mother this year and it doesn't get any harder than this. but i have my friends and i have my writing.

[Samuel Dickens]

So sweet this is. Mom often had me and/or my younger brother help her with the clothes line. And when I think back those whites against the blue sky was such a striking image. There was that clean smell also.

[Pete]

there's nothing like the freshness/smell of clothes dried outside along with the irreplaceable memories. as a kid at the time i wondered why we didn't have a clothes dryer like some other people.