Poetry as a clothesline

Poet, you —
bring me sun-
stretched words
as summer-muslin
bed-sheets
drying
on a clothesline

Poet, you —
pledge me night-
words
delight me darkly as
a buttercup
rewards the bee.

Portrait of a Woman – The White Dress by William Merritt Chase

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20 responses to “Poetry as a clothesline

  1. AHHHHHHHHH, I LOVE this. After reading darkness, how lovely to think of poems strung on a clothesline in the sun, poetry to delight one as a buttercup rewards the bee. My favourite poem I read today.

  2. Damn fine…you killed the prompt with beauty and nostalgia. This was amazing my friend.

  3. I love this❣️For some unknown reason, the sight of clothes on a clothesline blowing in the wind has always moved me. 🙂

  4. Oh I do love this. I really do. From the sheets flapping in the wind to the buttercup and the bee.

  5. To this day I am still enthralled with the scent of sun dried cotton. A tree killed our clothesline during a tornado last year. We have planted cucumbets and squash in its place. An interesting take on the prompt!

  6. Very nicely said, Bjorn. We have a saying here, “hang out your laundry.” I.e. tell what is troubling you or do you have gripe.”
    ..

  7. Two evocative images.. and you peg them out in true poetic style, letting the reader imagine the rest.

    • There’s a neat balance between the stanzas. LOL, the most obvious is one between clean and dirty, but purient thoughts aside. But I am very charmed by the idea of balance between what is shown, and the hidden mechanations behind the scenes, which is exactly the essence of poetry.

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