Serena Malcolm

#NaPoWrimo Day Three

Today’s prompt was to write a poem that involves a story or action that unfolds over an appreciable length of time. I decided to take the prompt literally and write about an unfolding (unravelling) marriage. I love thinking about the fabric of time being a tangible thing, I have written several poems around this, and today I intertwined (see what I did there!) time, relationship breakdown, and knitting.

Unravelled

If this isn’t when it ended
then,
as unclear as the twirling ‘M’
I pen
as I sign the name that I shan’t use again,
I can’t see when,

But even then,
If time were to unwind,
Could I even find
the errant stitch that,
stood out of line,
unravelled slowly our design?
Disentangled his from mine?

At what point did it all unfurl?
Did stitches switch
from knit
to purl?

Back six years, when boy met girl,
we had the world,
Brightly coloured skeins,
Needles sharp,
And hearts as keen,
Together started weaving schemes,

Year one ideals like shapes
had formed,
Like drapes they
kept our bubble warm,
So we dreamed,
Then dared to dream some more,

Years two, and three,
and even four,
We hit some snags
but though we fought,
We fought
to patch each hole that formed,

Year five we started dropping stitches
faster than our love could fix it,
He pulled one end,
I, the other,
We’d fix a hole then, there, another!
And holes we’d sewn
were now untwining,
fraying from our silver lining,

Year six

– blindsided –

Though my heart
can scarce abide it
we find
ourselves right here, divided,
Each with half a pile of yarn
and nothing left
in us
to bind it.