Read a Poem
"Laundry"
By Rachel Tramonte
God does the laundry. He uses Tide
because his mother used Tide.
He separates the darks from the lights
like he separated the boys from the girls
straight/gay
cowboys/Indians
black/white
fat/thin
rich/poor
God has undergarments. He wears wool socks
in winter, and darns them himself.
This winter morning he stands bare foot
on the tile floor of his apartment in Queens
checking to see if the towels he used to soak up
the city’s tears after the last massacre are dry.
“Laundry” by Rachel Tramonte, from
The Broken Plate. 2018. Used by permission of the author.
Bio
Rachel Tramonte lives with her partner and their two daughters in Cleveland. Her poetry has appeared in The American Journal of Poetry, SLAB, The Broken Plate, The Alembic, Green Hills Literary Lantern, Carbon Culture Review, Broad River Review and other journals.
Write a Poem
Write a poem comparing the hands of two people, such as two lovers, your mother and father, or two musicians.