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SPEED QUEEN
by tj sullivan © 1999 all rights reserved
Once a week I sort
The white dress shirts from
The string-bare blue jeans
The single socks from
The lonely boxers
And I watch the bad T.V. with no sound
For two hours
While my life spins
Clockwise
Sometimes I see
Her
The one with the
Polyester pusher waistline
And the
Unreliable lips
And I drink her in like iced Crown Cola
Slow, to keep my brain from freezin'
Slow, from the nose-ring glint
To the cinnamon bunny shoes
While I wait for the rinse
She ’s a Speed Queen
Single-calorie lean
Pullin' denim from the dryer
With that pout
Foldin' those pink sheets
And lookin pissed
She loves her belly skin
Wears it everywhere
And the lip gloss
The load of hair
She always looks like she
Just rolled out of
Bed
So
Maytag chic
On the laundromat linoleum runway
The boys and I
Wait for the spin
And dry our eyes
With daylight
Wishin' she’d hand wring
Our wet minds once
Pat them dry and dye them red
Cause dyin' is half
The fun with her and
Stains are
Part of the cycle
When she’s on high and
You’ve got all the
Quarters in the world
She’ll steam scream for more
If she’s feelin' dirty
But, see, change
Is the problem
And no one’s got enough
For her
On damp Sunday’s
When she’s sleeps til noon
And
Smokes Kents back by the
Bulletin board readin'
Diet ads and
Shakin' her hip just
So
While I’m sortin' out my socks
Checkin' my change
She’s the Speed Queen
All-tempa-cheer
Starin' right at me
But I fold
I fold
I always fold
When she
Looks at me.
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