The Orange Spotlight: Mel Bosworth

Every Laundromat In The World by Mel Bosworth (Safety Third Enterprises, June 2012)

Growing up I could probably count on one hand the number of times I was taken to a laundromat, but what is odd is that with very little effort I can distinctly remember each time. It was the mixture of comfort with an everyday chore and the fear of a new environment that aroused my young senses in a new way. On the surface there was not a whole lot to get excited about, but the thought that we were leaving our clothes unattended while we shopped next door or walked to the park was thrilling and terrifying. What if someone opened our dryer on accident and pulled out my spider-man underoos or worse stole my G.I. Joe bed sheets? My mind raced as I scoped out each person pushing around those laundry basket carts.

In his new collection of poems, Every Laundromat In The World, Mel Bosworth does not address childhood fears or washing clothes or underoos, but he does, as his has done in his novels and short stories, pull the poignant and powerful out of the mundane. The collection takes it's title from a poem, a dark, suicidal poem that still manages to not cross over any lines. Mel uses scenes we are comfortable with to draw out darker or more complex worlds. Whether writing poems, stories or novels, Bosworth always deserves your attention.

Every Laundromat In The World was released last month via Saftey Third Enterprises.