martha clarkson

when therapy doesn’t work, she drives him to the dry cleaners

See, this is what it’s about, she says
carbon slips, plastic bags, steam.
This is it, two mornings a week,
dropping loads, hanging up,
Korean family nodding in the background.

 She turns away, presses through the door.
Wait, where are you going, he says.
The Korean father smoothes her
husband’s shoulders, tags him pink.
See you Thursday, she says.

Martha Clarkson manages corporate workplace design in Seattle. Her poetry, photography, and fiction can be found in monkeybicycle, F-Stop, Clackamas Literary Review, Seattle Review, Portland Review, Feminine Rising, and Nimrod. She has two notable short stories in Best American Short Stories. www.marthaclarkson.com