By ru:user:NikolayS (ru:Файл:Lockstitch.gif) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0, GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The very last category in the Featured Pictures section of Wikimedia Commons is Animations. This animation of a sewing machine completing a lockstitch opened the door on a flood of memories of my mother, her little black Singer sewing machine, and all of the clothes she made for me and my dolls.
In my notebook, I jotted:
me by the front door
Easter Dress
daisies, yellow sash, folded socks, white patent leather shoes
eighth inch buttons on Barbie's clothes
patterns--tissue--pins--pinking shears
(It was at about this point that I started crying, and I didn't stop until my poem was done. Who knew that the animation of a sewing machine's stitch could unleash such a flood of memories?)
precision, measured
constant
love
And here's my poem:
A MOTHER'S LOVE
A mother's love:
measured in yards
of fabric on the dining room table
and rows of eighth inch
doll clothes buttons.
A mother's love:
tissue-patterned
with traditions and rituals,
lockstitching the seams
of son-daughter-husband-family.
A mother's love:
made from scratch,
sturdy and functional, but embellished
with rick rack and sequins
and pearl head snaps.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013
The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is
"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations."
I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!
You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.
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