Year Four: I Am Chief of the Laundry
Bras, panties, shirts, the name of the sister
stitched on each piece.
There are also communal sheets
ready to be placed in the front loaders.
I’m the Angel Raphael who
hangs them out to dry in the gated yard.
No distractions, just chores.
I thank God for giving me
enough clothespins.
Rainy days I use heaters and pray
that the laundry will dry. Steam hits my face
as I throw a sheet over the metal bar.
I mangle smooth Mother Superior’s sheets.
For all the others, I just fold them tight
and square, but leave a few
wrinkles in for Sister Mary Rosary
who at breakfast always takes
the last Sunday Bun.
Through this simple work
I consecrate the day.
….
This poem is from the chapbook A Kind of Mercy by Sharon A. Foley (Finishing Line Press), and can be found at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/a-kind-of-mercy-by-sharon-a-foley/
Sharon A. Foley has had poems published in Nixes Mate Review, Words and Sports, Paterson Literary Review, Euphony, and SWWIM Everyday. She entered the Sisters of Mercy at age eighteen and lived with them as a nun for twenty-nine years. Ms. Foley has a BA in English from Salve Regina University, and an MSW from Simmons University. For many years she worked as a school social worker. She is now a private practice psychotherapist, and resides in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Her chapbook, A Kind of Mercy, was named as a finalist in the Lefty Blondie Press First Chapbook Award.
The Paddock Review 