Sew Sorry
Sew Sorry
A shaft or gear is stuck or broke
The needle won’t make one more stroke
I cannot sew because of them
I can’t repair my pant leg’s hem
I cannot make a blouse or skirt
I cannot sew – my heart is hurt
That old machine was once brand new
My mother had it – it was due
I remember it in mother’s room
The needle flew – the motor zoom
The fancy gears for button holes
And even more for fancy scrolls
And even now I can recall
The sewing patterns from McCall
The bolts of cloth that she picked out
Though all we children had out doubts
But then it saw much harder times
Long before I called it mine
Baptized by my mother’s drink
More than once I’d have to think
And scars it bore from cigarettes
Left to burn with no regrets
I can’t recall the very day
She closed it up – packed it away
It just sat there on her floor
And she sewed nothing any more
And as the years crept slowly by
Under piles of trash it lie
Until the day I took it home
And claimed it for my very own
I cleaned and oiled that old machine
Until it sparkled – till it gleamed
I made the clothes that I then wore
I couldn’t afford those from the store
I could make a dress, a skirt, a blouse
And decorations for my house
A table cloth, a pillow case
That old machine kept up the pace
I could make things cool and cute
I even sewed my guy a suit
And when my daughters came along
That old machine was going strong
They wore the clothes that I would sew
As off to school each day they’d go
But they grew up and moved away
And I kept sewing till today
After 50-60 years
I guess I wore out all the gears
I broke a shaft, I cracked the case
I guess it’s time now I replace
That old machine that served me well
If it could talk – the tales to tell
Of lonely nights in mother’s hands
Her dreams, her thoughts, her many plans
Mistakes and triumphs through the years
The sounds of laughter, pools of tears
The scraps of cloth that made a quilt
The life that this machine had built
I think of it – my eyes go starry
And all I can say is I’m sew sorry
Copyright © Mike Dailey | Year Posted 2013
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