abducted by the daylight

Photo by Mathias Reding on Unsplash

I only like doing laundry at night
it’s nice because no one else is there using the machines
I can enjoy the hum and the heat of the dryer
all by myself…
it’s not that I’m scared to be alone
in fact I quite like it more than anything, really
what I hate is confronting the bombardment of life,
the assault of other public faces, of minds I cannot see,
without a buffer, without protection…
is it admitting you’re weak if you need to carry around a shield?
we all have soft bellies…
we all suffer in peculiar ways
I take the clothes out, one or two at a time
I like going slow, unhurried
the metal on my jeans burns my hand
there’s lint everywhere
I stop halfway to step outside into the cool night air
everyone is tucked away in their apartments
on their private friday nights, watching things
like the Muppets and the NBA finals
there’s a sweet smell to summer darkness
that I had partially forgotten
maybe I’m really a nocturnal creature
whose been abducted by the daylight
I stuff the final items into the crinkled old Ikea bags,
pack them in tight so socks and boxers don’t leak out
I take one load in each arm and scurry back to my hole
to fold until midnight

Franco Amati 2025