The Sweat and Tears and Smell of Soul

Used washcloths, sheets and toweling

thrown into the hamper or the closet

bear the vestiges of scowling,

pensive, smiling, sighing faces –

effluvial deposits in them posit

this hypothesis: that our humanity

transcends the flesh and intercepts

the world outside invisibly – faint traces

of the sweat and tears and smell of Soul

proceed from us into the globe before

they’re scrubbed and rinsed away --

carrying the miracle of everybody whole.








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