Bleached Muslin

Bleached muslin reminds me of work.
hard work, hard woman's work.
this is from laundering
by poor old washer girls
with brown sinewed arms
red faced aglow with sweat,
The salt of the earth,
falling into sudswater.
Those were the washing days
when we cooked the clothes
stirred them with ladles
in huge galvanized boilers
and choking steam arose
This muslin smells good
like all the whites they put
out to dry, on hot grass.
Bleached muslin reminds me of work.

 
Paige Chia
 

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