Rope across the lawn and a long fork-ended
wooden prop too heavy until I was eight.
Wooden pegs on a shiny spring
never two pronged ‘dollies’ until I was twelve.
Then I was delighted by a 24 pack of red,
yellow, blue, white and green and, joy of joys
pink plastic pegs.
Plastic coated metal line-twine across the balcony
on pulleys and reels to be hauled across the Calla Boucheria
to the apartment opposite on Mondays, Tuesdays
or Saturdays. They could haul theirs across
to my hook on Wednesdays, Thursdays
and Fridays. Neither of us ever could
or did, on Sundays.
The wooden horse in a Muswell Hill bedsit
dank, mouldy drying space for a single
young professional trying to pay her rent.
Wouldn’t use the in-situ white-goods dryer
concern for the environment a principle.
Too many work blouses and not enough
space or money to be clean or crisp.
Danish designed the eco dryer fits
into a corner easily. It takes heat and drying time
from a radiator. Hanging all your clothes
a whole wardrobe full, and tennis kit
swim wear, towels and all those babygrows
in a tiny space. But, oh, does it rip
your fingers when it collapses!
Sue Foster
Image by Ricardo Gomez Angel via Unsplash