The Web of Mama Dying
Quilts
The last quilting frame Papa made her
sold cheap at a yard sale years ago;
rough work, just soft pine and no one had room.
My daughter got a quilt inscribed in Mama's embroidery hand.
1923. Made for her own parents, the binding long ago
frayed all around, the panels still bright with old shirts.
Who got the one with all the stitched signatures? 1930's.
Seven women, neighbors and kin. So easy to picture
their thimbles gleaming under stretched cloth, their needles
glittering above, what they said gone deep in the folds.
Threads
Copyright 1998 by Greg Keith
