the heaven of clean linens by Tricia Marcella Cimera

​ 
the heaven of clean linens

for Danny

 
here
your mother does her work
of washing, then hanging
the linens on the clothesline.
the pillowcases, the sheets
dry in the sun, billow in
the sailing wind.
here
everything is clean and warm.
she turns to you, hair blowing,
takes a clothespin from her happy
lips and says    a word.
in your life, you have tried
to remember the word
your mother said to you, thought
maybe it would have made
a difference      later on,
changed what you became.
it doesn’t matter.
here
you are her boy.
she knows        nothing else.

​

Bio: Tricia Marcella Cimera is a Midwestern poet with a worldview. Look for her work in these diverse places (some forthcoming): Buddhist Poetry Review,The Ekphrastic Review,  Foliate Oak, Failed Haiku, I Am Not A Silent Poet, Mad Swirl, Silver Birch Press, Yellow Chair Review, Wild Plum and elsewhere.  She has a micro collection of water-themed poems called THE SEA AND A RIVER on the Origami Poems Project website.  Tricia believes there’s no place like her own backyard and has traveled the world (including Graceland).  She lives with her husband and family of animals in Illinois / in a town called St. Charles / by a river named Fox.

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