Clothespins!

Ode to the Clothespin

The world is in a terrible decline..

none more evident than on my clothesline.

The creation of pins is sadly to blame,

as they are no longer made quite the same.

The fresh-washed clothes..they used to fly,

while flapping the breeze ever so high.

The old pins..they held with a true might..

both the clothes and the line ever so tight.

The pins forever strengthened their grip..

never to drop..never to slip.

Made sturdy and strong from metal and wood,

The clothes on the line hung fast as they should.

But this day, the fact saddens me to say..

Our pins are not longer made in this way.

True, they are wood, but most weak and flimsy..

and wire..spindly!..a laughable whimsy!

These clothespins..they bend and they break!

They quiver..they splinter..and they shake!

When pinched, the pins began to mangle.

The clothes..they begin to dangle..

perilously close to mud, mire and dirt!

What once was clean..is now a dirty shirt!

This is atrocious! This will never do!

Clothespins are not supposed to go askew!

Oh, now I can do nothing but bemoan,

the fact that nary a new pin I own..

E'r will fast clip and hold to the wire,

Not slip..not break..not give way..nor expire.

Some from days past..maybe a few

hang on my line..so I make do.

Because of this..I have no quandary,

with age-old pins I hang my laundry!

Both jeans and sheet will dry..hung as they should

with antique pins of metal and wood!

I was so happy to find a new bag of pins in the laundry room! I thought "This is great! Now perhaps I should toss the old, weather-beaten pins that I have had for ages and ages. I grabbed the basket of fresh washed towels and trotted myself to the clothesline. Up went the dishtowels first! They looked so nice hanging with the bright, new pins! I turned back to the basket to pick up a bath towel. Up on the line went the first one and then the second. I turned to get the third when...aackk.. my dishtowels hit the ground! This will never do! I snatched them up and tossed them back into the washer..turned and inspected the pins. There had to be something amiss with these pins! There was! All of the newer pins were bending..scrunching this way and that like some sort of contortionist trying to fold himself to fit into a suitcase or something. The wooden part was starting to flip backwards..the wire springy thing was spraddling out like legs of a chicken on a frozen pond! Then there were those that were literally popping off of the clothesline and shooting across the nearby fence into the blueberry bushes! My towels were dropping like flies! One by one, they hit the mulched area beneath the clothesline..sad. I gathered up all of my now dirty towels and rewashed the whole kit and kaboodle! Needless to say, I was not a happy camper! Those pretty, new pins seemed to be laughing at me as they twirled happily on the line. I glared.."Stupid pins!" Grabbing the one nearest me, I tried to jerk it from the line to toss it in the trash bin. It would not come loose from the line..this goofy pin had twisted itself enough that the wire was now wrapped around the line! There was no removing it! It would not pinch open..it would not slip off..and yet, it would not hold the towels! After much toiling, I finally removed and tossed all of the new pins..I do believe I will stick with my old, antique pins! They may not look like much but they sure hold the clothes to the line much better! I think I shall reword an idiom.."Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."..to "Beauty is in the towel holder!"