The city’s thousands of houses,
Stand facing the streets,
Sunlit and bright.
The spaces separating the houses,
The yards!
Dark, empty spaces never seen,
Intersected by clotheslines.
Anchored to windows across the yard,
Horizontal communication lines,
From one family to another.
The lines are hung with the everyday clothing of life.
Socks, shirts, dresses and long johns,
With wonderful colors of towels and curtains.
The clothes swing gaily,
Snapping, fluttering and popping.
Enjoying the cool fresh breezes
Of the cavernous yards.
The pulley wheels squeal, when night falls.
Lines being emptied, clothes taken in.
Below, in the yard, the sharp click
Of dropped clothes pins.
The lines belong to the city’s landscape
Part of the city life.
John P. Murray
Class of June 1936