{"id":1523,"date":"2021-04-18T10:28:26","date_gmt":"2021-04-18T18:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/judykaber.com\/?p=1523"},"modified":"2021-04-18T10:28:26","modified_gmt":"2021-04-18T18:28:26","slug":"washing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/judykaber.com\/?p=1523","title":{"rendered":"Washing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\">i\n\u00a0\nI can only reach the line by standing on the metal box that once\nheld milk and cream in thick bottles. Into my arms the clothes ride,\n\u00a0\nwheel screeching, the chattering sun playing in the pines. Pull in\nthe billowing backs, shake, fold. The beginning of so many years\n\u00a0\ncleaning the clothes we wear, secret garments with odd\ncups and openings, something to pull on over our indecency,\n\u00a0\nto cover the growth and wrinkling. My mother lays them flat,\nsprinkles them with water like a blessing, iron hissing steam.\n\u00a0\nii\n\u00a0\nWe keep the copper bodied washer on the porch, its snout\nof hose hanging over the lip of wood, dirty water feeding\n\u00a0\nburdocks and dandelions. Inside three shiny metal cups\nstump up and down in a pounding circle, amid sparse\n\u00a0\nsuds and cold water. With the wire to the motor slightly\nfrayed, I sometimes get shocked, pull back quickly,\n\u00a0\ndropping soggy diapers on the wood. Once my hair\ntangled with sheets, my head pulled close to the wringer.\n\u00a0\niii\n\u00a0\nAfter we move, the plumbing has yet to be done\nfor the washer, the gas lines still not run for the dryer.\n\u00a0\nBut the laundromat in Searsport gleams.\u00a0\nIf I wanted, I could watch TV there.\u00a0\nI lose countless single socks, pasted to metal drums.\u00a0\n\nOne day a woman taps my arm,\u00a0\nholds my jacket, my canvas bag, my purse\u2014\neverything I brought and left on the bench.\u00a0\n\u00a0\n<em>You shouldn\u2019t leave stuff there, someone might steal<\/em>\n<em>it. Easy for \u2018em to walk right in,<\/em> <em>take everything.<\/em>\n<em>\u00a0<\/em>\nI stare at the wine colored bruise\non her left cheek. I want to tell her that if someone\n\u00a0\nneeds the little I have, they should take it. But my\nvoice folds flat and when I reach to take back\n\u00a0\nmy things, she won\u2019t let go. I have to pull them\nfree, unwanted anger bullying up in me.\n\u00a0\n\nTar River Review\nFall 2017<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>i \u00a0 I can only reach the line by standing on the metal box that once held milk and cream in thick bottles. Into my arms the clothes ride, \u00a0 wheel screeching, the chattering sun playing in the pines. Pull in the billowing backs, shake, fold. The beginning of so many years \u00a0 cleaning the &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/judykaber.com\/?p=1523\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Washing&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/judykaber.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/judykaber.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/judykaber.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/judykaber.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/judykaber.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1523"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/judykaber.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1524,"href":"https:\/\/judykaber.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523\/revisions\/1524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/judykaber.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/judykaber.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/judykaber.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}