The Laundromat

When things go awry I don't know what I'll learn.          
Like tonight, I'm sitting in a laundromat because          
the washer wasn't delivered, and who can wait          
when you're out of unmentionable lady garmets?            
         
It looks like it's straight out of the 70's with 60's          
remnants. Faded Patriotic stripes of red, white and          
blue cling to the cinder block against the water-          
stained ceiling. It's filthy and yet nostalgic too.          
         
An older couple sits whispering in this all but          
empty space.  I remember playing under my          
mother's pregnant feet in one of these. How easy          
to forget about the poverty of such places.            
         
I lost three quarters in a machine - what could          
that buy today? The couple laughs as the man          
dumps a heavy basket of wet clothes into a dryer.          
The woman smiles and blushes when he winks.            
         
They have forgotten about me. I have become          
a silent observer of love in this dirty place.            
They laugh and go outside to count galaxies          
forming in each other's eyes, entwine in dusk.            
         
Everything becomes quiet and I am alone with          
my pen scratching about what I already know          
while wondering what I've learned from aged          
Love in a Laundromat filled with era past.            
         
I know the strong can be alone and content.          
I learned sometimes togetherness is strength.          
I know we don't choose the magic of our muse          
anymore than who we are chosen to love.          
         
I learned in the case of both, it's regardless          
if they're alone, or with someone else. I Know          
this is a patterned repetition by design; I am          
learning how to overcome in this human skin.          
       
I know of all the challenges mapped out before        
I came, I will never have to face this one again.          
           
~