Come to Me~The Laundry Poem Reply

Author Notes:Posted as a writing challenge, I took the original poem from Erica Jong and wrote a reply, titled 'Come to Me'

Erica Jong~ The Dirty Laundry Poem

This is the dirty laundry poem--
because we have traveled from town to town
accumulating soiled linen & sweaty shirts
& blue-jeans caked & clotted with our juice
& teeshirts crumpled by our gloriously messy passion
& underwear made stiff by all our joy.

I have come home to wash my clothes.
They patter on the bathroom floor like rain.
The water drips away the days till you.
The dirty water speaks to me of love.

Steamy in the bubbles of our love,
I have plunged my hands into hot water
as I might plunge them
in your heart.

After years of spots & splatters,
I am finally coming clean.
I will fly to you with a suitcase of fresh laundry,
strip my clothes off, heap them on the floor,
& let you scrub my body with your love.

Come to me~my reply....
Dirty or clean

it makes no difference~

come to me

bring your dirty laundry

trailing between your legs



Together we can peel it away

throw it in the corner

of the basement

with the cobwebs



your juice soaked jeans

can lie atop my grass stained shirt

our smelly socks can play footsies

beneath the love stained sheets

of yesterday

Our mountain of undoing will make

beautiful art.



I will wash you

gently,

delicate cycle

letting you soak

in my waters

never scrubbing too hard

knowing some stains are set

from being left alone

too long.



Let us luxuriate in

fresh, unwilted sheets

savoring the smell of each other

knowing tomorrow

we'll pull on our clean clothes

get dirty once more

staining hands, knees, feet



come to me

...laundry can wait.