Pastimes

To knit is to remember 'good old days,'

grandmothers crafting bright afghans, a maze

of soft, warm squares. It is the use of twists

of yarn in countless colors, agile wrists

which knot your memories into a sock,

a sweater, scarf, or hat. It is to lock

a craft invented by the ancients in-

to your own repertoire of skills. Begin

your work with strangers' patterns, altered slight-

-ly when it suits you. Clicking needles might

echo a poet's typing: both are arts

which make well-worn rhythms, as smaller parts

solidify, and form fresh creations,

new and yet old – pre-plotted innovations.

Poems are knit together, too. Each wears

its finely crafted words in sock-like pairs.