Jan Ball
 
Normal Cycle
 
After the two hour and fifteen
minute normal wash cycle, we
smooth the crushable items: shirts,
shorts, skirts and take armfuls
of smaller socks, undies and tea
towels out to the balcony so we
can dry them in the pine-fragrant
South of France air.

Since he’s taller than me, Jeremy
arranges our two red bath towels
over the trellis behind the pink
oleander bush so they can aspirate
in the breezes on both sides as I
assemble the drying rack, careful
to secure the control mechanism
so the whole contraption doesn’t
collapse.

I brush against the basil plant
releasing its green aroma, press
clothespins with my index finger
and thumb the way my mother
must have done in the musty rat-
infested basement of our childhood
apartment building, and tug at shirt
collars and skirt hems so I won’t
have to iron them.

The lavender plant shrieks purple
when I squint down at it and the red
geraniums sing in their window boxes
as the Mediterranean Sea ebbs and
flows blue on this ordinary day.

Jan Ball taught ESL at DePaul University in Chicago until recently. She lived in Australia for fifteen years with her Australian husband, Ray Ball. Her two children, Geoffrey and Quentin, were born in Brisbane. She is a twin to Jean Helmken and she was a Franciscan nun for seven years (Sister Jeanclare). When not writing poetry, working with her personal trainer at FFC, going to book group or traveling, Jan and her husband like to cook for friends. These background experiences infuse her poetry.