A beginner, clumsy with blunt needles
has stitched me up: the tension here
taut, puckered into wrinkles,
there, loose as an old string bag.
Not for me an exotic pattern,
Diamond Web, Vertical Dash;
mine is the plainest, safest garter,
the stitch for cosies and charity squares.
No good wishing for slinky silk,
cuddly mohair, the glow of chenille;
my yarn is homespun, coarse, hard-wearing,
washes and drips to a baggy stretch.
As for colour, not subtle pastel
nor the sophistication of black,
mine is not the display of a peacock
but a sort of beige, serviceable, dull.
I live in fear of coming unravelled
but comfort myself with this thought:
no one can pick more holes in me
than, darned proud, I can mend.
Jane Eagland
© Jane Eagland, 2004.
Reproduced here by permission of Jane Eagland, who asserts her moral right to be identified as the author of this work. No part of it is to be reproduced, stored in any sort of retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the author.
Jane Eagland lives in Lancashire. After teaching in English in schools for too long, she left in 2001 to have more time for writing. She has had stories, poems and articles published in the small press and this autumn a picture book for young children, Second Best, is due to be published by the Andersen Press. She is currently working on a novel for adults.
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Last updated on 23rd February 2005 by Roger Cornwell. |
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