The Clotheslines

I find this poem about "Clotheslines" interesting. I reminds me of home and the memories of my childhood. I remember me and my mother do the laundry using our hands, hanging them on the clotheslines. I remember my mother telling me to wipe the clotheslines first before hanging them. I remember that there are some laundry bar soap that made my wrists bleed...and my mother would always say that these soaps are very strong, therefore they hurt my hands and wrists. Even though I bought my mother a washer and dryer, she still prefers to dry our clothes using clotheslines. Okay, here it is....read on!

A clothesline was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by,
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.

For then you’d see the “fancy sheets
And towels upon the line;
You’d see the “company table cloths”
With intricate designs.

The line announced a baby’s birth
From folks who lived inside -
As brand new infant clothes were hung,
So carefully with pride!

The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed,
You’d know how much they’d grown!

It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.

It also said, “Gone on vacation now”
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, “We’re back!” when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare!

New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy and gray,
As neighbors carefully raised their brows,
And looked the other way .. . .

But clotheslines now are of the past,
For dryers make work much less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody’s guess!

I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung out on the line.

The Clothesline Said So Much, by Marilyn K. Walker