Yarn suspended in the New York air,
withstanding weather considered “too harsh” to bare
We cower under umbrellas, cursing mother nature’s hand
despite her powers to maintain our land
The yarn my mother once taught me to weave
persists in the rain while we jump up and leave
The maternal traditions we continue to preserve
the patronization that this “woman’s craft” does not deserve
We define strength in a very certain way
yet this credit is denied to woman each and every day
A mother’s love, A woman’s hobby
swings in the air even when it’s foggy
To keep the craft inside is simply a waste
as a woman’s potential could easily dominate the entire space
This is a really good poem, I love how you added imagery into the poetry with things we have experienced and further connected our walk to Madison Square Park with women empowerment and motherhood solely based on the crochet.
It seems that a lot of us were inspired by the presence of art by women in the area we visited, especially the knitting by Sheila Pepe and the Now statue on the Appellate Division building. Your words are so powerful, especially the way you’re able to connect the theme of women being both artists and art themselves, “as a woman’s potential could easily dominate the space.” And I also like the way you connect the strength of women to the art’s persistence against the weather conditions that are actually caused by Mother Nature, as you referenced earlier. It makes the connection even more special.
I like how you connected with pele’s work as this poem effectively challenges the same stereotypes and celebrates the women’s craft and is very empowering to women and shows the strength of women like the resilience of the yarn even in the face of harsh weather.