The Shine Journal

CIRCUMSTANCE

by

Sue Ellis

On a long winter
evening, I began to
knit a circle,
because it was time--
having only achieved
squares or rectangles
in the past.

The pattern suggested
myriads--
joining them into
a stylish shawl,
but I thought . . no.
I'd only resemble
a homely Scarlett O'Hara,
making use of
a dresser scarf
as she did the drapes
after the fire and
Rhett's scorn.

Still, I continued--
back and forth
knitting along the spokes,
casting off--casting on--
forming arrowheads
around the perimeter
and a plain, circular hub.

The knitting
began to spiral,
hanging from
the needles like
a jabot at the neck
of a dandy's shirt.
No! More like a fir tree.

I stopped, snipped
the thread--satisfied.
Perhaps I wasn't meant
to knit circles.

Motivation: A knitting project with an unexpected outcome.

Bio: Sue Ellis lives and writes near Spokane, Washington. Her short stories and poems have appeared at such places as Flash Me Magazine, Ken*Again, Birmingham Arts Journal, and Dead Mule School of Southern Literature.