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Unfinished

by Rebecca Titchner

I.
And so, we did the laundry.
We folded the clothes that you would never wear 
and neatly stacked them in a white plastic laundry basket.
You’d written your name on it in black and blue
magic marker so no one would take it.
Your life was like that.
Most everything you owned was in that basket 
when you showed up at the door on a Sunday night in February.
It seemed so absurd to move the heap of jeans 
and shirts from washer to dryer.
What really was the purpose?
You wouldn’t be at work.
You wouldn’t stand in the kitchen each morning 
with a cup of coffee that was mostly sugar,
or apologize again for dropping the lid 
of the sugar bowl and breaking it in half.
You had no idea you would never wake up.
You had no idea you would miss a gloriously warm and sunny Sunday,
a day like you mentioned the night before.
You said you couldn’t wait for summer.
You asked me if I needed help cleaning.
You heard something outside and turned to me 
and asked if I had heard it too.
Porcupine, maybe, I said.
I think now it was a banshee
coming for you 
and leaving us here with your unfinished laundry.

II.
The bear wandered into the yard 
two days after you died 
tipping over the trash can and 
scattering garbage on the hillside behind the house:
tags from a new shirt you would never wear
empty take-out containers 
bits and pieces of a life
that amounted to no more than the 
wooden box that holds your ashes.

III.
She asked for his sweatshirt 
something with his scent
something to remind her of his being
his presence 
proof of something more than words unsaid
promises unkept
moments unlived.
She held it to her chest each night
and stained it with her tears
until all that remained was the scent of loss

 

Rebecca Titchner has been the Elk County Recycling Coordinator for over twenty years. Prior to that she was a reporter and editor for two county daily newspapers. She and her husband are musicians and some of their original music has been featured on public radio and internet streaming stations. She resides in Ridgway.

Filed Under: 2021 Issue, Poetry

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