Stone Soup

Where young artists paint the world with words

The international magazine of stories, poems, and art by young writers and artists. Published continuously since 1973.

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Hanging the Laundry

Sunlight
Dapples the long white laundry line.
Holding the plastic basket
On my sore hip
I lift a battered, hand-knitted
Cream-colored dishcloth
And hang it on the line.
A monarch butterfly flits about the yard
And a daring mourning dove
Tries to settle herself
On the laundry line.
I watch the line
Swaying in the cool breeze.
The sun dances across
The towels
And splatters them with color
Like an artist’s palette
Dotted with creamy-yellow paint.
Hanging the last towel
I step back to survey my work.

Hanging the Laundry Isabel Sutter
Isabel Sutter, 12
Houston, Texas