Tapestry

mouldy stitching
fraught with grief
the sweat, the stale smell
of bleeding fingers
the callused fingertips of young girls

heads bent,
the sisters stitch in and out and in again
sitting in straight-backed chairs
sewing tiny even stitches
smaller  better  better chance
of being chosen

in and out and in again
dreaming, dreaming of bridal beds
gauzy white night-dresses
and husbands, gentle husbands

that night so perfect, the full moon
lighting alabaster shoulders
pale white shoulders
as husbands lift night-dresses
white night-dresses
sewn in tight, precise stitches
tiny pin-pricks of blood
well-hidden within the seams

Pauline Gauthier
Aylmer QC
 

1997 © graffito