A Poem for the Unhappily Settled

QUILT

The patterns of her life overlap, an old quilt,
each piece interwoven, thinning with age
This security blanket of survival carried since childhood
keeps her quiet, keeps her comforted
Full of so many holes, every winter seems the last she can bear,
every frost hardens her heart

Its stitches unravel, repaired with whatever comes to hand,
for sewing it anew takes so much time and trouble
New threads of perspective,
the scraps of experience reworked, soul-searching and patience
Curling into a fetal position, she stretches the shrinking blanket over cold ankles
and tries to sleep, shivering in the dark