Debt to be Paid

by Xanthippe Pack-Brown

                    For Embroidering the Earth’s Mantle by Remedios de Varo

 

To the threads of the Earth,
woven with a delicacy and care
that one could never imagine.

Beneath watchful eyes,
slipped through steady fingers.
Never caught on callous, nor cuticle.
Never to be frayed.

Fed through slats of brick,
between cracks in sidewalks,
through the air bubbles of oceans.
Weathered, worn
in what should’ve been love.

To the threads of the Earth,
and all that is ordinary in its divinity,
We have failed you,
and I am sorry.

 

back to University & College Poetry Prizes