Made by Hand<\/p>\n
My thumb loops yarn, inserts <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Made by Hand” is reprinted from Fire On Her Tongue: An eBook Anthology of Contemporary Women’s Poetry,\u00a0<\/em>Kelli Russell Agodon and Annette Spaulding-Convy, Editors (Two Sylvias Press, 2012).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ann Batchelor Hursey\u2019s<\/a> work has appeared in the Seattle Review, Crab Creek Review, Poemeleon,<\/a> Chrysanthemum <\/em>and Persimmon Tree<\/a><\/em>,<\/a> among other publications. Besides collaborating with artists, musicians, and community gardens\u2014 she has written poems about fair trade and handmade things.\u00a0 She holds an MFA in creative writing from the Rainier Writer\u2019s Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University. Born and raised in Ohio, she\u2019s now lived longer among Firs and Cedars than Sassafras and Buckeyes. She lives in Mountlake Terrace.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Made by Hand My thumb loops yarn, inserts ……….the needle\u2019s tip, pulls yarn through each stitch: right ……….to left, back to front\u2014worked-in, slipped-off ……….my needle\u2014 I purse my lips and knit ……….this prayer shawl to warm a friend\u2019s shoulders. ……….My … Continue reading
\n……….<\/span>the needle\u2019s tip,
\npulls yarn through each stitch: right
\n……….<\/span>to left, back
\nto front\u2014worked-in, slipped-off
\n……….<\/span>my needle\u2014
\nI purse my lips and knit
\n……….<\/span>this prayer shawl
\nto warm a friend\u2019s shoulders.
\n……….<\/span>My son appears
\nto say, Knitting makes you<\/em>
\n ……….<\/span>look older.<\/em>
\nStartled, I think: Is this
\n……….<\/span>the first time
\nhe\u2019s seen gray on my temples?
\n……….<\/span>Is it the way
\nI squint beneath the lamp?
\n……….<\/span>My needles slide,
\nknit three, purl three\u2014and then
\n……….<\/span>reverse the row
\nbelow; a three-beat seed
\n……….<\/span>stitch, trinity
\nof healing thoughts. As fingers
\n……….<\/span>move I tell
\nhim how I cast sixty stitches,<\/em>
\n ……….<\/span>like my age\u2014<\/em>
\nMy needles slide, knit three, purl
\n……….<\/span>three\u2014three beat
\ntrinity of healing thoughts\u2014
\n……….<\/span>Me, thinking when
\nwas the first time I thought
\n……….<\/span>my parents old?<\/em>
\nUnobserved, I used to watch them
\n……….<\/span>sitting, side by side\u2014
\ntheir eyes on strangers\u2014 and me
\n……….<\/span>wondering when
\ndid they put on weight, when
\n……….<\/span>did their shoulders
\nsoften? My son speaks again,
\n……….<\/span>would I listen
\nto a Haydn solo, the piece he
\n……….<\/span>needs to learn
\nnext week? He leans against
\n……….<\/span>my knees, catches
\nthe shawl, now falling off
\n……….<\/span>my lap. My
\nhands graze past his unkempt hair
\n……….<\/span>as we listen to
\nthis floating melody, this
\n……….<\/span>slow concerto.
\nIt\u2019s then I start my final row,
\n……….<\/span>turn all that
\nlength now gathered on the floor\u2014
\n……….<\/span>consider skills
\nof binding-off. Remembering
\n……….<\/span>do it loosely.<\/p>\n