Laundry blues

36 lines

Two bright blue pen stains.
Worse than tissues?
Laundry’s done. It’s finished its load,
A brand new shirt, that now has issues
Ink stains tell a tale, untold.

How many times do I have to plead
Please check your pockets for contraband?
For tissues, coins and pens that bleed
Is it too hard to understand?

I shouldn’t be the one responsible
For checking every pant and shirt.
Not everything’s disolvable,
Coins, tissues, pens, they’re just not dirt.

.Perhaps there’s help to find a cure,
I’ll search the net, to find good news.
Someone’s lurk that’s sure to work
Vinegar? Salt? or even booze?

I’ve tried so hard to shift that stain
But all to no avail
It’s turning out to be a pain,
I’ll have to give an F for fail.

In India a stain would not be undefeated.
A laundry Waller just wouldn’t rest
Until that ink stain had long retreated,
Even though the shirt would be distressed.

Buttons broken on the rocks
Garment bashed into submission
Missing items, odd paired socks
And nothing like their pre-condition.

Our machine it gently washes
Soft and soapy, whitens, brightens
But ballpoint pens, it breaks and squashes
I hope that you are now enlightened.


Two ballpoints in the front pocket of a shirt end up in the laundry.

What happens when you discover this tragedy? And who is the owner of the shirt? Who forgot to remove the ballpoints?