The Shipfitter's Wife -- Dorianne Laux

Guest poem submitted by Deepali Uppal:

(Poem #1517) The Shipfitter's Wife I loved him most when he came home from work, his fingers still curled from fitting pipe, his denim shirt ringed with sweat and smelling of salt, the drying weeds of the ocean. I would go to him where he sat on the edge of the bed, his forehead anointed with grease, his cracked hands jammed between his thighs, and unlace the steel-toed boots, stroke his ankles, his calves, the pads and bones of his feet. Then I'd open his clothes and take the whole day inside me -- the ship's gray sides, the miles of copper pipe, the voice of the first man clanging off the hull's silver ribs, spark of lead kissing metal, the clamp, the winch, the white fire of the torch, the whistle and the long drive home. -- Dorianne Laux

I first came across Dorianne Laux when I read 'The Shipfitter's Wife'. The
poem inspired me enough to check out other poems written by her. She has an
ability to capture magic out of daily humdrum events and write about them
with an astonishing amount of honesty which I have rarely seen anywhere
else. Her poems cover love, loss, death in simple yet extremely vivid and
evocative language.

I haven't seen any of her poems on this list, so I thought I would submit a
few of them.

Deepali.