Thread

by Constance Hansen

Pulling the bit of thread I could finger

I hoped to unspool the bobbin

but made a knot so fine it proved impossible

to undo I half-meant to stash how-tos for you

at least a letter or two didn’t you see me reading Lao Tzu?

Before I died I was tired for a long time

I saw you looking for them the manuals

on being a woman You wanted grimoires

an honest-to-goodness loadstone

You were a kid You traced the house

for trapdoors and knocked on the floors

When you found a Crisco-laced paperback

called Kitchen Wisdom you settled for that

You were more keen than keening

and knew no less than the girls with moms

if you count death

Published on July 7, 2021