Old Maytag Washing Machine

Old Maytag Washing Machine

Some sixty years ago beside the Maytag
Roller- washing machine, I watched my
Mother screaming and sobbing at the news
That Laura, a distant aunt had died.

I knew something grave had happened and
Mother’s carrying on scared me speechless
Even though no one in the family had
Seen nor heard from Laura in forty years

This first taste of death at the age of five
Shook me like trembling glass rattling in
A cyclone. A mother’s influence lasts for
A very long time. In my case, six decades

Have passed and I still ponder her reaction.
Since then many have come and gone-
Grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins.
With each passing, I still see that ancient
Maytag’s rollers spin to my mother’s cries.