Boisson Washing Day…
Hubbub. Shrieks of laughter,
Baskets darkened by stains;
Women dunking soiled shirts
And dirty skirts
In stream’s dithering progress,
During a summer of sparse rains.
Rubbed. Streaks of stone,
Baskets, like colanders, strained;
Women rinsing pummelled blouses
And scoured trousers,
Above stream’s incessant progress,
During a summer it hadn’t rained.
Pete Ray
July 2008
 |
| 2008 & SOME WATER RUNNING... |
A lavoir, or public washing place, in Boisson, Gard, France, when I first saw it in 2008...
Dry Bed…
The decline edged one closer
To a traditional local washing place in a stream;
Remembered, fêted, a focal
Point, its heritage immortalised, preserved…
Thus I sauntered closer
One dawning, fawning, sunlit September day,
To an encrusted and dusted dry
Bed, its heritage compromised, not conserved…
Pete Ray
October 2018
 |
| 2018 & RATHER DRY... |
Where Boisson’s women would once wash clothes in a stream.
 |
| SEPTEMBER 2019 & TOTALLY DRY... |
I have seen the stream running before now but in September 2018, the bed was dry…
 |
| NOVEMBER 2019: I RECEIVED THIS IMAGE AT THE WEEKEND & FINALLY, WATER HAS RETURNED... |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.