2 Poems by Sandee Lyles

This Wondrous Life of Laundry

It is never the food that brings this one home
I am not one of those Marie Barone types
but I can put soap in a washing machine
and push a mean button

A scary thing, I hold the bag of clothes
above the water, afraid
maybe a bug or a package of something
will spill out and tell me more
than I want to know
or maybe something better kept in a wallet
could have been, carelessly, placed
in a hurried pocket

As if the smell of mildewed, wet towels
were not enough to make eyes water
like onions
What is lurking in this bag of his?
among the "Tap Out" shirts and
mismatched socks
I am not naive enough to think
my “good boy” is not stupid like his age
full of new things placed before him
on a dangerous, exciting platter
I close my eyes
wash away whatever it is
was or may be
and pray in tune to the
swish, swish, swish
he is less like me
than I was


In His Absence

In his absence I see clearly
the significance of his presence
I see it in thirsty flowers
and uncut grass
a low gas tank
that fairies once filled
I feel it on the cold side
of the bed where I lay his
favorite warm-up suit like
a body with a cigar on the pillow
that I pretend to pull from his lips
where it sticks a little and
wakes him from a dream

my dream
​