Steam Laundry

Steam Laundryis a novel in poems based on the true story of Sarah Ellen Gibson, a miner's wife during the Klondike and Alaska gold rushes. Her journey began as she followed her husband to Dawson City, Yukon Territory in 1898. She stayed there three years as the town's boom and her marriage burned out. In 1903, she left her husband and sons to start over in Fairbanks, Alaska with another man. Based on archival research and incorporating historical documents and photographs, the poems approach the past through the ghosts of correspondence. The poems, written in the voices of Gibson, her family members, and the people who knew her, take on love, loss, failure, and desire. Some confront the drama of failed marriages, troubled family relationships, and alcoholism. Others spin the dramatic details of hunting accidents and subarctic survival into compelling stories in verse. They embody the opposing voices of an era during which men and women struggled in different, but overlapping, universes. By staring at Gibson through the spectral lenses of the people around her, the documents she left behind, and the vision of a contemporary poet, the particulars of Gibson's life are transformed into an exploration of the people history usually forgets. Steam Laundryoffers the reader the chance to try on the dusty, mining-town overcoat of Gibson's life.

Author's Note	p. 13
River Town	p. 15
Almost Anagram	p. 17
Correspondence: A Recommendation	p. 19
In the House of Our New Marriage	p. 20
Wife, I Ask You Once More	p. 22
Like Skin	p. 24
Chilkoot Trail	p. 26
At Last an Invitation from 13 Eldorado	p. 45
Correspondence: Receipt for Freight	p. 51
The Younger Brother Speaks	p. 52
Nellie Considers Her Sons: Dark	p. 54
On Dominion Creek Tom Makes a Decision	p. 56
Nellie Considers Her Sons Again: Light	p. 58
Races on the Fourth of July	p. 60
Lost Luxury	p. 62
Correspondence: Free Miner's Certificate	p. 63
Tom Breaks Cargo on the Steamers	p. 64
Letter from Home	p. 66
Joe, at the Dance Hall	p. 68
Montana Steam Laundry	p. 71
Will Butler Waits outside the Laundry	p. 73
Hannah Mullen	p. 75
Correspondence: A Contract, Witnessed, Sealed, and Signed	p. 78
Will Packs His Fiddle and Sings	p. 80
Nellie Thinks She Should Have Waited for the Boat	p. 81
Tom Makes a Narrow Escape	p. 84
Tom and Elmer Dive for the Gun	p. 87
Not Near as Wild	p. 89
Elmer Considers the Old Man Drinking	p. 92
The New Camp	p. 94
Steam	p. 96
Infidelity	p. 98
Tom Returns to Dawson	p. 100
Luck Conspires against Tom and Elmer	p. 103
Correspondence: Handwritten Receipt	p. 112
Mother-in-law	p. 113
Ellen Welcomes Three Guests: Postage, Medicine, Liquor	p. 116
Raven	p. 119
Correspondence: A Letter From Madame M. Yale	p. 121
Correspondence: An Unanswered Questionnaire Tucked in a Packet of Letters	p. 122
Ellen Notices the Dry Spring	p. 124
A Late Answer to Madame M. Yale's Questions	p. 126
Correspondence: A Note on a Prescription Pad	p. 128
Tom Wonders: Is This Sentence for Me or for Her?	p. 129
Inventory: The Objects in This Hospital Room	p. 131
Until Payment Can't Be Made	p. 132
Remembering the River Crossing	p. 137
Correspondence: Printed Receipt for a Funeral	p. 139
Son, of This, You and I Will Never Speak	p. 140
Notes	p. 142
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