Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming.

Inside a laundromat's luminous, sleepy window,

among the low-pitched, hypnotizing hum

of stainless steel washers and dryers,

he sits in his usual dull green chair and waits.

His observations alternate between

frumpy women, dryers that hug the wall,

and an impatient wristwatch. 

He's keenly aware a worker replaced two plants

on the line of dryers he sits beside.

And outside, a timid fall of rain has begun

to sway in the streetlights from the wind.

It's 8:00 PM.

In full dryers, he watches clothes whirl, spin,

and fall, implying to him the heated passion

of long-time lovers.

But the empty dryers feel more like kindred spirits. 

Slipping into fantasy, he sees himself at home,

placing his wife's downy-scented shirts

in her drawer the way she likes them.  

But when harsh reality slips back into place,

he's painfully aware, because there is no wife.

He knows this laundromat is an asylum

to pass time in an ugly, lonely plastic chair.

On this night, as on countless others,

time will slip away bit by bit

underneath dingy neon and fluorescent lights

before he hoists his sack to trod

the long walk home under a bleak

night sky.

At 9:17 PM after leaving,

a young carefree couple,

in pouring rain,

runs past him under a streetlight,

laughing loudly, while smacking their feet

in any puddle in the way.

Occasionally switching his heavy sack

from shoulder to shoulder,

he walks on waves of rain

that slap leaves of trees

and hears the couple's voices fade

to sounds of distant thunder.

Lights glow in the windows of houses.

When he gets home, it'll be dry, empty, and solitary.

And a chair awaits. 

Author's Note

Thank you to those of you who read this.

Reviews

[AYVID N]

I loved the description of the laundry room and that made this poem special to me. It's the first time I have read such stark, moving imagery woven around a household appliance. Indeed, it all comes to reflect his internal ruminations and how the undercurrent of loneliness overwhelms his consciousness. As for my take on this, I would say I loved the concluding lines because they felt so much like home to me. I'm a loner, I love my space and I love my own company (The only people I cannot live without are my kids) To me, that giggling young couple symbolizes a season and that season visits all. It is a season that inevitably passes and we're left to wrestle with our grey, raining reality. A poem so beautiful to read...thanks for sharing.

[Relic]

What a great comment. Thank you, DIVYA. :)

[AYVID N]

It was such a pleasure! You're most welcome dear Relic. :)

[Susan 🦋]

Well, if your intention was that dagger in the heart emotion... you win. Loneliness is a hard truth for so many. Conveyed beautifully sad.

[Relic]

I appreciate your comment, Sue. I've been there and I know what it feels like.

[Cherrie Palmer]

Wow, this is a heavy writing. reality of so many. You really tether this feeling of loneliness to the waiting chair.

[Relic]

Thanks for reading, Cherrie. Glad you liked it. :)

[Cherrie Palmer]

Would make a great opening for a bigger piece.

[Relic]

Possibly, but I haven't got the energy. lol

[Cherrie Palmer]

I hear that

[Marlon Ferguson]

Effective imagery here, but reads more lke prose than poetry, at least by my definition.
Well expressed and evocative.

[Relic]

You might like this one:
https://www.writerscafe.org/writing/HouseofRelics/1049314/
No need to review.

[Chris Shaw]

It's a long time since I sat in a launderette, but I can remember it well. I was young, skint and far away from home and my love life was down the toilet. At least my clothes were clean. I felt tears on my cheeks as I read this Tim. Excellent writing.

Chris

[Relic]

Thank you very much, Chris.

[Gee]

So sad. This the plight of many methinks, especially folk with mental health issues.
So well written.
After 8 years here I would be hard pressed to find a better pen than yours.
Hope you are well

[Relic]

I really appreciate that, Gee. Thank you very much. And yes, I'm well, hope you are too.

[softlyfall]

he sits in his usual boring spot by the window
and waits
That is heartbreaking. I can see him, looking in through the window. I wish him happiness.
I totally get "the fantasies have been hard to slip out of"... when the inner life embellishes the outer so much and so often, the differences seem to obscure...hence we are left in (and this laundromat is just) an asylum.
It fascinates me how you take what seems mundane and make it so compelling.

[Red Brick Keshner]

Ah yes! Been in similar occasions such as this and that scream just wants to let out. It's amazing what can be put to words. Ans this is a fine example of putting meat and flesh to the bare bones. Much enjoyed and filled with empathy and compassion, solidarity as well with the poetic persona. /Freds.

[Relic]

Thank you, Freds.

[Ken e Bujold]

the slow meticulous build of this poem is quite tantalizing. the opening stanza had me thinking war memorial, the second an old lonely man (not exclusionary to the first), then the third shifts the thoughts ever so slightly to a voyeur, which is shifted yet again with the next 3 tumblin' stanzas that leave one thinking of a harried husband (perhaps an ailing wife) that is finally exploded with the concluding V's exposure of a sad lobo with nowhere else to really go. A splendid journey you fashioned here my friend

[Relic]

Thanks very much for the comment, Ken.

[Moonie]

The picture that you have added reminded me of the game "stray" which is one of the most adorable games I've played. It basically has a stray cat as the lead in a decaying dystopian town that has been cut off from the outer world. Throughout the entire game, we see no glimpse of the sun or the sky, and the whole game is set in deserted neon-lit alleys. I think that visual goes really well with your poem.
Laundromats can be incredibly eerie and lonely, and you've painted that uneasiness and forlornness very well. Doing laundry has to be one of the most mundane tasks and sometimes just the sheer monotony of everyday life is enough to make a person go crazy. There are so many great lines in here. I really liked the comparison of the clothes to passionate lovers. The line where he fantasizes about opening his wife's drawers is really cheeky lol. Great writing!

[Relic]

Thanks so much for your comment on this, Moonie. I appreciate the time you took to read and leave your thoughts. :)