Cloth-Line (City-bred Poem)

Cloth-Line

A clothes line was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by.
 There  were no secrets you could keep
 When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link
 For  neighbors always knew
 If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.

For then you'd  see the 'fancy sheets'
And towels upon the  line;
You'd see the 'company table cloths'
 With intricate design.

The line  announced a baby's birth
To folks who lived inside
As brand new infant clothes were hung
So carefully with pride.

The ages of  the children could
So readily be known
 By  watching how the sizes changed
You'd know how much they'd grown.

It also told when illness struck,
 As extra sheets were hung;
Then  nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.

 It said, 'Gone on vacation  now'
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told,  'We're back!' when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare.

New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy gray,

As neighbors  carefully raised their brows,
 And looked the other way..

But clotheslines now are of the past
For dryers  make work less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody's guess.

I really miss  that way of life.
 It was a friendly sign
 When  neighbors knew each other best
 By what hung on the line!