A thousand Bras has the Laundry;
a thousand Baniyans and a thousand Socks too.
It envelops the Laundry Basket from all sides and
extends all creation by ten overflowing Chairs.
The Laundry is all That is, was, and will ever be.
By becoming bodies that carry It, we become mortals of this world.
The Laundry is greater than all That is great; one
Part of It has become all that we see, three Parts of It are yet unseen.
The three Parts that are unseen are beneath the nether world.
The one Part that is seen is worn again and again.
From It was born Sweat, Grime and Dust; from Its own Need,
It created the Machine, Detergent and Softener.
With It as the fire, the Machine created again the sacrifice.
Water was ghee, Detergent the fuel, Softener the havis.
From the complete sacrifice was born Foam,
the Great Rumble, the Swirl, and the Drain water.
What did this Laundry hold in Its self? What were Its
Trousers? Its Shirts? Sarees? Panties and Chaddis?
From the cotton Sarees It removed submission and generational trauma.
From the linen Trousers It removed arrogance and misogyny.
From the Blouses and Petticoats It removed shame, fear, and oppression by faith.
From the stiff Shirts and limp Chaddis It removed ignorance, narcissism, and untouchable purity.
What did this Laundry make from Its self? What were Its Shorts? Its Skirts? Capris and Caps?
In the tiny pink Panties with a unicorn It made strength, hope, and self respect.
In the captain america Underpants It made
humility, empathy, and a desire to understand that which is different.
In the frilly orange Frock It made
leisure, passion, and pleasure.
In the fluorescent yellow chennai super kings Cap It made
patience, penitence, and love for Things aren’t loved.
Then in the Spin Cycle It whirled and whirled and
whirled it all until Panties became Pants, Shorts became Skirts,
Bras became Briefs, Capris became Caps, pur became impure, impure became pure and Laundry became It.
By meditating on the It that is Laundry, they become
patient, penitent, passionate, and full of pleasure,
honest, humble, honorable, and full of hubris,
strong, sanguine, sensual, and full of senselessness,
and loving, loved, love and full of love for Things that aren’t loved.
***
Madras Courier originally ran as a broadsheet with a poetry section. It was a time when readers felt comfortable sharing glimpses of their lives through verse. If you have a poem you’d like to submit, do email us at [email protected].
-30-
Copyright©Madras Courier, All Rights Reserved. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from madrascourier.com and redistribute by email, post to the web, mobile phone or social media.Please send in your feed back and comments to [email protected]
