They are making ‘soft blossoms’
from pieces of fabric
that used to be clothes –
hot pink, shiny blue,
variegated browns,
pale green, warm orange –
cutting them in circles
traced around cups,
then threading cotton
on fine needles, running it
in and out around the edge
and drawing it tight.
As they work, they talk
about growing trees,
keeping chickens,
and whether they like
being addressed collectively
as 'you guys’ (not ‘you women’).
They are making soft blossoms
to decorate the rims of buttons,
attach to hair clips,
dot around belts,
edge the pockets of shorts,
adorn the frills of skirts.
Brooke is smiling wide,
demonstrating ways
to make them tiny like daisies
or full and bulbous; how to leave
enough thread at start and end
to knot them off, complete.
The tip of Kymmie's tongue
is held between her lips.
(I do that too
in concentration.)
Bronny is showing us
photos of her drawings.
Suzie is holding up
her first circlet of flowers.
She thinks it's clumsy (it's not).
Everyone notices, also, and craves
her necklace of iridescent blue
glass that she treated and fired.
Me, I’m making a poem
of what I see, which is:
intent or laughing,
open or focused,
all of their faces
