Separate whites from coloureds
wisdom has it
but my clothes are so old
there’s no possibility of
dye displacement
I am a keeper
I have T-shirts
forty years old
faded a little
but not turned pink
I use conventional wisdom
when washing something new…
© Andrew Wilson, 2024
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, whimsygizmo in Quadrille invites us to write a Quadrille – a poem in exactly 44 words – a regular feature at the pub and although we may use “spin” in any sense of the word, I immediately thought of a recent poem I wrote on the subject of washing clothes. The last stanza was 46 words long and might have made a standalone poem with just a two-word edit but I decided to practise the art of distillation and go for editing the whole poem down to 44 words to see if it caught the gist of it. I include the original below so you may be the judge of whether it works or is an edit too far…
Colourfast?
Always separate whites from coloureds
in your weekly wash
conventional wisdom has it
as passed down from
mothers to daughters
and even to sons
given the reluctant recognition
there will be a lacuna
between a mother’s ministrations
and another’s
But my clothes
are for the most part
so old and washed
so many times
there’s no possibility
of errant dye displacement
polluting one colour with another
so I sort according
to type – trousers and pants
socks and shirts
one wash destined for
the drying rack
one on coat hangers
hung up to dry
I am a keeper you see
I have T-shirts and
hand me downs
from my late father which I calculate
must be forty years
since newly purchased
on a trip to Australia
did my mother hope
to see some resurrection
in my wearing them?
Those T-shirts have
I grant you
faded a little
the fabric at least
if not the poster extolling Australia
or the intricate dots
of aboriginal art
but they haven’t turned pink
in some laundry accident
I do, after all
use conventional wisdom
when washing something new…
© Andrew Wilson, 2024
Nice! The Quadrille is such a great exercise for “distilling” (great term!) a previous poem. I love “I am a keeper you see.” I am not, and boy, are my kids mad! They would have KILLED for some of my old concert t-shirts! 😉
Understandable De – my parents got rid of lots of things that we considered really seminal to home without seeming to think that we might have found them so but that’s life…
I still keep my old clothes because they still fit me and it still looks nice. Good for you to keep them.
Thanks, Grace, luckily, men’s clothes are often better made, less fashion throwaway and less susceptible to the whims of fashion too – though I do the envy the more peacock possibilities of women’s clothes – just saying…
Andrew, I like your, “I am a keeper” and it’s worked in your favor here and elsewhere in this world. Nicely done “keeper” poem.
Thanks, Lisa – yes, it put me ahead of the game in vintage/recycling/anti-fashion/just say no to clothes landfill without even knowing it, lol…
You need to be careful with that first line! Could make for an intriguing poem using metaphor though!
Yes – when I wrote it I noticed the metaphorical double entendre and decided to keep it – well spotted Shaun!
Great making your poem into a quadrille.
Thanks, Melissa – really getting with the form…
We could be related, lol, I get this.
And the full poem refers to two t-shirts bought in Australia, Paul – synchronicity…
I have too many old clothes…. but it’s always hard to throw anything away.