by Elaine Sorrentino
We forged a friendship
when the kids were small, money tight,
the unexpected birthday gift
that screamed of possibility;
this machine with its basic
straight and basting stitches,
its practical and fun zigzag,
and other sexier stitches
I later learned earned names
such as Scallop, Icicle and Diamond,
all contributing to the creation
of shiny silver knight costumes,
long-tailed green dragons
with gold bellies and oversized paws,
quilted Christmas stockings
sporting each child’s name on the cuff,
wide wale corduroy knickers
for the high school version of Carousel,
all tailored with my reliable
indestructible sewing machine.
Cancer changed priorities
and my Singer found a home
in the back of the closet
with other abandoned pastimes
until Covid coaxed it out
to fashion protective masks
but instead, sewed one straight
row, then jammed in reverse.
Elaine Sorrentino is Communications Director at South Shore Conservatory in Hingham, MA. Her work has been published in Minerva Rising, Willawaw Journal, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, The Ekphrastic Review, The Writers’ Magazine, Haiku Universe, Failed Haiku, and has won the monthly poetry challenge at wildamorris.blogspot.com. Stella Bellow is an illustrator currently attending Parsons School of Design in New York City.
Global Poemic 