The clothesline

A POEM
A clothes line was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.
It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.
For then you'd see the 'fancy sheets'
And towels upon the line;
You'd see the 'company table cloths'
With intricate design.
The line announced a baby's birth
To folks who lived inside
As brand new infant clothes were hung
So carefully with pride.
The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed
You'd know how much they'd grown.
It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.
It said, 'Gone on vacation now'
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, 'We're back!' when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare.
New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy gray,
As neighbors carefully raised their brows,
And looked the other way...
But clotheslines now are of the past
For dryers make work less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody's guess.
I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung on the line!

When I reieved this today, I had to share it.
It brought back so many childhood memories. Memories of my grandmother and the simpler, happier times on the ranch. When we'd play amoung the damp sheets. Ridin stick horses, and feeling the cool of the cloth on our skin in the summer heat. Beneath our clothesline was a huge patch of irises. In spring they bloomed a pale purple. They gave a faint fragrance to the sheets when they hung there to dry. At the end of the clothesline was a pine tree... I remember my grandmother telling how she found the little sapling uprooted where they were building the highway near our ranch. She brought it home and planted it... with tender care, it is now a tall stately pine tree. Our clothesline was near the garden in the back yard, where we would sit and shuck corn, or snap green beans to can. The sunset from that spot in the world was amazing... the most beautiful shades of orange and red... I miss those days! Life was simple, and I felt more love, more peace then than ever in my life... thank you Mama Jewell!!
I know you are there just on the other side mindful of my life here today!
Peace
AL