Laundry

there were months

when he would not do his laundry

and we could come visit

and stare at the piles

and he would only say

he had to stop

the colors

she loved so much

were all

fading to gray

and other times

after longs spells

of silence and thoughts

we would arrive

for a few days

perhaps to celebrate

the 4th of july or some

other meaningless holiday

everything folded

the bins empty

and he would only say

with all the cleaning

with the new tide

the stains from

all those forgotten years

were slowly washing away