Washday

Breathless and surprised, we'd run
All the way up from the hill,
Hand in hand the way we used to do
In my mother's yard - out and out
And in between the curtained shirts
And socks and pillowcases
Of another week, our faces fresh
And cool with the crush
Of newly wrung-out dew
Against our cheeks.
..........I remember how
I sent you tumbling once
Into a sudden sheet. Rolled-up there
In the grass, your hair and eyes
Entangled in your arms, you looked
Like some half-wakened butterfly
Caught between a startled laugh
And yawn.

The lights go out on the other shore.
Tousled, sleepyheaded butterfly,
I hold you closer, let my hand brush
Through your hair and to that half-shrugged
Shoulder leaning against my own.
Now, for a while, your eyes catch mine,
And all the evening sky becomes
This heaven's clothesline strung with mist
And stars.