Think About a Knot of Twine
1. The knot of twine held my legs to my body.
They met like the part of the tree where birds live.
2. It wasn’t the knot of twine that held my breast
to my back, instead it was my jacket.
3. Not everyone’s knot of twine will look the same—
some people want do things simply,
and other people’s insecurities prevent them.
4. Vonnegut would have tied a simple knot:
“Any scientist who can’t explain what he does
to a seven year old is a charlatan.”
5. Newton tied beautiful knots in the dark;
He wrote in Latin so “common people” couldn’t read it.
6. But canoes, cowboys, the recipient of a parcel; all of these
appreciate a simple knot of twine.
7. Could we arrive at a place after walking there together—
our two little fingers pulled together by a loop of twine?
8. In my mind the twine is yellow
and you are throwing bread at my feet,
surrounding me with a soft crowd of white ducks.
9. Mother, I said, leaving her body,
my organs seem to be on the outside.
They are tied to your body by a length of twine.
10. “Why can’t we?” said some of us, noticing that the people, cities,
and animals in the world were drifting apart.
“We can,” said the length of twine, and it knotted itself.