Wisconsin Belle

Wisconsin Belle A pale Wisconsin winter sun does not warm, only lends its light as a wraith too thin and wan Greenery imposes itself on the landscape A lush land that is bitter in winter - lovely in spring A house, peeling, sits on a knoll, looking as poor as the farmers who live there A sleeping garden is a circus of sticks and poles, cornstalks and cabbages gone to seed The back door of the house opens wide to a slab-faced woman with a crutch under one arm and a basket of laundry under the other Red of face, skin like cowhide , she makes her way to the yards Her wash-dress is long, and a pale gray, that seems to speak to her dreary life Someone has made a laundry line between two almost-rotted crosses The rope sags like an old woman's breasts Next to the line is a milking stool weathered by years of harsh weather and use Putting aside her crutch, the woman settles the stump of her right leg on the stool and begins to pin the gray wash She pins and scoots, her red handkerchief binding up her hair, her graceful movements, lending beauty to her disability When the wash is hung, she takes up her crutch and carries the empty basket back to the dilapidated house that is her home