Genuflections

I came across one of Yukimi's photos--something she shot on a recent sojourn to Europe. I  was stunned when I saw it and thought it captures completely what the wash house women attempt to convey with words. I stared at the photo and was transported to the sights, smells and sounds lingering upon this waterway graced by freshly hung laundry drying between flats. If you look closely you can see a woman standing on the bridge performing a task. And although it's unclear to me what she has in her hands, she seems to be working, completely given to the task before her. It is that same energy we take and give as we work on producing the anthology. An energy that intertwines between thinking, composing, work shopping, revising, producing, surviving, longing and loving, and makin' sure ends meet for our family and for our selves. All over the world women (in particular and people in general) work...their purpose--to help their familias stay afloat, like the gondolas in the water mirrored within this image. As above, so below...I can think of no better metaphor save the bridge and its double that beholds the eye, the cypher, the recursive circle of completion. A labour of love genuflected by wash house women's voices all over the world in solidarity--crisp and curry...we bring you Lavanderia.