apartment laundry

there was only one washer
that worked in the apartment
basement.
the dark laundry room
with a wooden table,
a dryer. a slab floor,
cages for storage
full of
bikes and Christmas
decorations,
boxes taped tight.
the good washer was slow
and small,
taking an hour
to spin your clothes
clean.
feeding it quarter
after quarter. it was
hard to wait
for it all to be done,
and then
you'd forget and see
your pile of wet clothes
on the floor
the next day
when you finally came
home.