Unravel

By Caroline Ho, Assistant Editor

Creation, craft—the yarn beneath your fingers takes its shape

within the strands lies your escape

Unwind your thoughts, unspool the threads, just lose yourself within

each stitch to seal away each sin

Hook in, hook out—no room for doubt—just let the pattern lead

yarn over, this is all you need

No mocking here, forget your faux pas; here you’re at your best

the yarn forgives (unlike the rest)

Revelling in your craft, your pride, until you spot a tiny slip—

just one missed stitch, a single skip.

The smallest lapse in focus, hidden back so many rows

it’s no big deal if no one knows

It’s really not important, it’s a little off, oh well

not like anyone can even tell

Who cares if it’s not perfect; nothing ever is, as such

(at least, nothing that you ever touch)

But now you know you see it feel it know the flaw is there

it’s not worth it to repair

But now you need to make it right—you’re never satisfied

one missed stitch will tear you up inside

Such a fucking waste of time to mend what no one notices

(but what a waste this whole world is)

Here’s this one thing you can put to rights, however long this takes

this do-over for your mistakes

A cleansing, an unravelling, a pure cathartic joy

what you can’t fix, you can destroy

It’s fine, you still can salvage this, just take it all apart

just like your fucked-up life, restart.