Stitches
That’s the word in my mind tonight
I think, stitches
One by one, sewing together
All that tearing
The dishes that aren’t washed in two days
Then they are, the kitchen clean if not sparking
The headache that won’t go away
Then recedes at last to water, a walk, a Tylenol
The email inbox flooded with to-dos
Still there, still behind, I’m sewing as fast I can
Back and forth
Back and forth
Over the folds of my thoughts
Rearranging by the day or the hour
Smoothly rippling in the new normal
Then bunching as I hold back tears
Another stitch, another breath
They are loose
They rip from the seams
But I have endless thread
Even if for a moment
I need to stop and kiss my fingers
And fall apart, just a little
Before I stitch myself together again
And again, again, again
So steady that even to myself
I look whole
With Love,
Natalie