enjoyed the read

Beautiful thoughts of washing clothes. Makes me want to wash clothes just for the fun of it. Your words are very encouraging for doing chores with pleasure.

Thanks
Steph

I think I've been to the very same "launder-land" busting suds! I could truly identify with the "she" that tries to find pattern and order in things. I loved your parrallel of one of the most mondain tasks of life to the "greater" scheme of things. At the end of the day the Ozone Layer, our natural resources and public assist. will still be depleting, and crime will be on the rise; but at least the laundry will be caught up! Very thoughtful and poetic!

You gave the simple task of cleaning clothes such honor and dignity, while I just think of it as something that can be done in a multitasking way, you made it a craft.......lol now I feel important! This would make a great commercial.......seriously

A very unique look at the laundromat and its customers!....M

wow, i can hear those jean snaps clanging against the dryer drum...
it is disturbing how many willfully ignorant people opt to live "laundry world" lives.
powerful and penetrating, jude.
exceptionally well done.
cg

and all this time I had thought doing the laundry was such a mundane, plebian task -- only to discover from your creative poetry that it is far from those preconceived notions of mine -- this is a lovely piece of work Jude -- peace and love my friend -- Jon Michael

Another character sketch that scratches the senses, Jude. Some cling to the god of cleanliness as a means to control their lives, at least some small part of it, denying realities beyond what they can touch and see.
Impressed...Lin

Quite cleverly writ, Jude! I might just enjoy my laundry days more from now on. Zen-like, you say...hmmmmm :o) Enjoyed!
Blessings and Love - Micke

Excellent... funny how a laundry mat is zen like...
I've felt that and know that character... fine pen!

Love the way you've spun this one, Jude, and hung it out to dry. We need more of these from you. Your abstract writes are great, but when combining such concretely-imaged, sharp-focussed lifescapes with conceptual, metaphysical tangents, you indeed hit new highs. We get the Bold (UK detergent) approach here: the all-in-one wash-and-condition treatment! :)) Great stuff. From what I recall of the first draft, this is a slightly more hopeful airing? A more soothing, therapeutic perspective on processing harsh realities? Your "she" originally seemed a little more in need of a fairy godmother to turn up and convert her unruly shopping cart that she might experience, for once, something of life's Balls... Too many good lines in this to mention, though the newspaper section is my fav, and the piling patterns of life's designs and fabrics. Yes, it all comes out in the wash, as they say! Glad you decided to scrub away at this write on your washboard, Kartero. sKiffle Kate xx

Hi Jude, you always have a way of capturing what a photograph does not, but still produce the image at the same time... like you are the camera with a lexicon/thesaurus built in... although I've had to do laundromats, I don't like them... there a lots of places that you find the indifference, but you have definitely captured the most likely place of all...

In Spirit,
Bear

"inside black and white patterns of world event" Great metaphor! And a very good character study.

Carmen

Jude,
The character in this poem breathes on the screen. Love and Hugs,
Sheila

Making the mundane superlative is your forte--bravo.

Ron

I LOVE THIS!beautiful choices in words portraying such commonality in a beautiful and unique manner

....this is truly unique....very much enjoyed! (the cycle of life eh?)

The laundromats do tend to have an almost simple magic of commoness to them, whether they are a public one or in apartment building etc people tend to let down their defences and talk as if equal...great write Jude

Fee

I love this Jude,I recently began using a laundry mat myself,and yes it takes on a life of it's own,and you have captured the moment
stan

Jude, I'm at a loss for words. You take an everyday event...laundry...and write it into a deeper meaning of life. I think this is my new favorite of yours...another that goes into my library.

Forced after living out of a suitcase and not having too much clothing to start with, I needed now and then to use "launderettes"
There, I came in contact, if swiftly, by people that lived 1/5 of their life there, experts on washing detergents, fabrics colors, fabrics producers, 1400rpm against 1200rpm, and calling each other by their first name, despite living respectively in the other end of town.
You have captivated better their lives as a photographer could.

Georg

mixing together the starch of their existence
drained by the soot of indifference

I think you've described many peoples' lives here.

revised: I found an upbeat thread giving her another dimension...enjoyed the changes

squeaky clean comes to mind and yet sterile, in this glimpse as if she is completely unconscious to any greater reality "soot of indifference"...fab details Mr. Jude.

Jude,
Those must be some clean children! I never tried Alchemy on fabrics before, you must let me know the secret!
Love, love, love, this poem.
Much peace, love, and light,
Amber "V"

What a great write, Jude. Especially the following lines:

sometimes she reads the newspaper
while waiting for each successive cycle
relaxed and assured by the hum of cleanliness,
by the zen-like rotation of dreams
and the black and white pattern of the world

There's a lot more to this poem than a clear pair of socks.
-gene.

...and the world goes on without her. Her dreams, long tucked away in a musty attic, her secrets bleached into a sanitary memory. It seems odd to me that people find comfort in the rut of their lives, forgetting that there is much to taste and feel beyond the illusion of their confined reality. Excellent and chewy, this poem so expresses the lives of many who settle for the comfort of the familiar and the tunnel vision borrowed from the generations that preceded them.
Take care,
Sherry

This is splendid. I love the mosaic of the world you've sketched for us.

How clever is this! There's so much hidden between the lines of this great poem it takes more than one reading to really grasp what the writer is saying. You amaze me Jude. And your poetry never fails to delight me.
Hugs,
Marcia

Laundry is THE WORST job as far as I am concerned...I try to get someone else to do it, if I can afford the one dollar a pound when it needs doing...Ed