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Open Poetry #45
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Marchmadness
Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 9271
So. El Monte, California

0 posted 2009-11-03 10:40 AM


Freshly laundered clothes
drying in the sun,
blowing in the wind
in the backyard of my memory.
I loved the smell
of fresh air and starch
as I ran back and forth
through the lines of clean clothes...
until my mother caught me.

                        Ida Werrett

© Copyright 2009 Ida Werrett - All Rights Reserved
Alison
Deputy Moderator 5 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Rara Avis
since 2008-01-27
Posts 9318
Lumpy oatmeal makes me crazy!
1 posted 2009-11-03 10:42 AM


What a thought to hold through my day.  Thank you.

xoxoox
A

suthern
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Seraphic
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723
Louisiana
2 posted 2009-11-03 11:45 AM


I remember playing in the shade of drying sheets... can smell them now! *S*

Thanks for the rush of memories! *S*

AncientHippie
Member
since 2009-10-15
Posts 411
Surfing the Cosmic Flow
3 posted 2009-11-03 01:58 PM


Ida, this piece has taken me back further than I would care to think.  Thank you for the magical memory tour.
Namaste
Jim

"We are stardust:  we are golden:  and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden."  --Joni Mitchell "Woodstock"

Margherita
Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236
Eternity
4 posted 2009-11-03 02:08 PM


What a lovely memory you share here with us, dear Ida. I spent quite a while in this scenery which transported me too into the past.

Even heard the flapping of the sheets ...

Beautiful!

Love,
Margherita

ThisDiamond
Member Rara Avis
since 2002-02-22
Posts 9353
Michigan, USA
5 posted 2009-11-07 03:26 PM


Magical memories, that you have made a gift
that I wish to play with for many more times.

nakdthoughts
Member Laureate
since 2000-10-29
Posts 19200
Between the Lines
6 posted 2009-11-07 04:32 PM


Ida, I still hang most of my laundry out to dry in the breeze, even in the winter, as long as it isn't snowing. I enjoy just the  comfort of taking the time to do it
(besides the saving of energy costs).

M

1slick_lady
Member Ascendant
since 2000-12-22
Posts 6088
standing on a shadow's lace
7 posted 2009-11-07 05:25 PM


love this memory
2islander2
Member Ascendant
since 2008-03-12
Posts 6825
by the sea
8 posted 2009-11-08 02:07 PM


you have your talent Ida, and your own grace for writing, thanks for this jewel.

yann

LindsayP
Member Elite
since 2007-07-28
Posts 3410
Australia, Victoria
9 posted 2009-11-08 09:03 PM



Dear Ida, what a wonderful thing is a good memory. to a lot of people that is all they

have left when they grow old. I'll bet you have started a lot of people going down the

memory trail with your delightful poem.
I loved it Ida and you too, take care.

Lindsay

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis
since 2008-01-25
Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
10 posted 2009-11-08 09:29 PM


Yo dear Ida,

This is very fine writing.  

It brings back memories for me.  My grandmother used to hang the clothes in the back yard as my mother worked during the day.

Love Bobby

Earth Angel
Member Empyrean
since 2002-08-27
Posts 40215
Realms of Light
11 posted 2009-11-09 09:08 AM


Gosh, my dear Ida Belle, you've done it again! ~ Brought back pleasant memories for me! I used to run through the sheets and clothes hanging on the line. Sometimes I inadvertently pulled an item down. My grandmother and my Mom would scold me ~ but it was worth it! I miss that fresh, outdoor scent when I put my clothes on or slipped under the sheets at night. You just can't buy that scent in a bottle, so to speak! ~ No matter how hard they try! Now there a by-laws forbidding clotheslines.



Loveya!
Linda

Artic Wind
Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 8080
Realm of Supernatural
12 posted 2009-11-10 04:29 PM


I absolutely love the smell of fresh linen! ~ Oh dear, I can just hold a clean sheet upon my face forever. I lovely little memory to hold in your head and here in Pip to last.


ARCTIC WIND

JamesMichael
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA
13 posted 2009-11-10 07:05 PM


Enjoyed...reminded me off a clothesline experience in Montana when I was a boy...James
OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
14 posted 2009-11-10 11:36 PM


Ida, I love your poem.  Who couldn't???

I found Maureen's reply confusing, and it took me a moment or two to work out what she was saying.  When I did, I was amazed to realise that the norm (in the whole of America?) is that people dry their clothes in a tumble-drier.  Here (in South Africa), people only use tumble-driers when it is raining or night time etc.  However, when I got to Linda's response and found out that there are laws against clotheslines, I was amazed/stunned/surprised/shocked and I am still trying to close my mouth and get my eyes to revert from being 200% open and my brain to digest the information.  I don't know whether to laugh or cry. A law against clotheslines!  No wonder we have global warming.  I am no less surprised than I would be if there was a law against breathing or wearing clothes.

Owl

Poetal
Member
since 2009-11-09
Posts 74
Texas, United States
15 posted 2009-11-11 12:24 PM


I can relate to this as well as we too had a close line as a child. Mama felt the air added freshness to the close.

AL Inmon

Marchmadness
Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 9271
So. El Monte, California
16 posted 2009-11-11 03:57 AM


Thank you all for commenting on one of my fondest little memories.
                                Ida

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