I Stop Writing the Poem

I stop writing the poem
To fold the clothes. No matter who lives
Or who dies, I'm still a woman
I'll always have plenty to do
I bring the arms of his shirt
Together. Nothing can stop
Our tenderness. I'll get back
To the poem. I'll get back to being
A woman. But for now
There's a shirt, a giant shirt
In my hands, and somewhere a small girl
Standing next to her mother
Watching to see how it's done