I’m a jumbled basket of cut threads and spools.
Black linen head scarves and darned socks,

icy steppes, sputtering candles and mules,
I come from tweeds, grey-green as rocks,

peat fires and sheep huddled in the mist.
Pea-soup fogs and cinders blown down city streets.

The hold of a ship, a young seamstress kissed.
On the washing line, frozen sheets.

Oak and maple leaves patchwork the lawn.
A cotillion, my young Gran, dressed in chiffon.

Hand-tatted wedding veil, generations worn.
Felted slippers, a cloak of vintage twill.

Silver shank buttons and cashmere yarn.
Cross-stitch needle point, a granddaughter’s skill.

I’m the warp and the weft, from each of them woven.
A hand-braided rug from the rags, I have chosen.

Born in the UK, raised in the US and now living in Australia, Laura Jan Shore’s poetry collections include Breathworks(Dangerously Poetic Press, 2002), Water Over Stone (Interactive Press, 2011), Afterglow (Interactive Press, 2020). Her work has been published in anthologies and literary journals on four continents. She earned her MFA in Poetry from Pacific University in 2019. http://www.laurajanshore.com