Wednesday, June 24, 2020

For what it's worth


the sewing machine is at the repair shop
again

apparently
stitching through many layers
over and over
is tough

needles break
the motor freezes
thread tangles
under the presser foot

even though
you've sewn this pattern
187 times
so far

to make a mask
you need
cotton cloth
elastic
wire

you think about
the person who will wear
a mask with Snoopy fabric
blue and green Seahawks logos
tiny blue and pink daisies

as they care for your mother
an old neighbor
a disabled child

you know it's better than nothing
as their glasses steam up
as soon as their shift is over
the mask lies beside them on the passenger seat

tomorrow
they have another choice
yellow and orange stripes
or the one with children dancing
holding hands
on a background of blue

4 comments:

Ms. Moon said...

A poem for our these strange times. Those little masks we make mean so much more than we ever could have imagined.

Sabine said...

Beautiful. That's all we have for medicine right now, masks, distancing and hand washing. But your poem tells us that bwe have so much more.

Radish King said...

Dear Coyote I keep coming back to this poem. The detail just sends me. I love it and those children at the end maybe all the children you’ve ushered into this world.
Love
Rebecca

beth coyote said...

Thank you Rebecca. I hope you are well. XXX Beth