Laundry Day!
by Sharmagne Leland-St.John
...after the photograph by the author

No more beating of rugs
the old fashioned way
just shake them out
and toss them
in the washer.

Check the sky for rain.
Looks safe to hang them
on the line to dry.

Each of these rugs
holds a distant memory
there are the ones
she watched the Diné elders
weave by the roadside.
Deft finger art created
from a long ago vision.

The one with the birds
she places by her bedside
to keep her bare feet warm
from the icy Taos winters,
as she steps out
onto the cold morning
wooden floors.

Kelly in the Native souvenir shop
in The Plaza gave her a discount
on the turquoise and red...
vivid colours in a geometric design
caught her eye and she was smitten.
She was good at bargaining.

The green she chose as a bathmat
to soak up the droplets of well-water
after her daily shower.

She watches the sky
as she pins them
onto the line with wooden pegs
the weather could change
any second now.

She remembers the old saying,
"If you don't like the weather in Taos...
wait 10 minutes."

The good news is,
it is so hot here
this summer that
they will be dry in 5.



 

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