Epistemology of Laundry
this week’s last load of laundry has me stealing
my son’s precious teenage time I reenact the duty
of my father and what comes hammering back
are trips with him pushing his cart of dirties down
the street his southern charm waving or shaking
hands—: bus driver mailman neighbors get
countless invites to dinner or a Saturday bbq
my father’s good morning darlin’ clanks & pings
as quarters spill into the bona fide grip
of the present my son’s hands show signs
he’s ready for the tedious work ahead as he storms
through pile after pile then his precision when offering
assistance to a stranger this chore becomes a lesson
for the two of us this shared work turns and tumbles
neatly folds—: a fond memory
Copyright © 2016 F. Douglas Brown. Used with permission of the author.
“‘Epistemology of Laundry’ is a response to poet Geffrey Davis’s series of epistemology poems in his book, Revising the Storm (the two of us have been working on a collaborative project where our poems are in conversation with one another regarding fatherhood). The poem seeks to pinpoint a moment when I think recollection is teaching me, but the reality is, the present offers the lesson. In other words, as a father, I am often full of fallacies: hand down the ‘old ways’; force ‘duty’ onto your children; yelling creates understanding. However, what I have come to know is that these ‘fallacies’ are always corrected by my children (in the poem’s case, my son) who allow me to be a fully realized parent.”
—F. Douglas Brown
F. Douglas Brown
F. Douglas Brown is a Black and Filipino poet and the author of ICON (Writ Large Press, 2018).