Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.
NeedleworkHazel Hall
Dainty, smooth and cool—
In their possibilities
Beautiful—
Fragrant from the loom,
Like a field of marguerites
All in bloom.
Fluttering furrows break,
As the scythe trails through the grass
Its deep wake.
Cannot match the tread
Of my thoughts whose wingèd feet
Race ahead.
Out of time and space,
That a needle’s artistry
May embrace.
Breaths the breezes bear,
Wispy-waspy things that fly
In warm air.
Muslin smooth and cool;
These my fingers love to make
Beautiful.
Tuck on tuck and pleat on pleat
Of people hurrying along,
Homeward bound—throng on throng.
Their work is finished, mine undone;
Still my stitches run.
Fold on fold and row on row;
But I know each pulsing tread
Is spinning out a life’s fine thread;
I know the stars, like needle-gleams,
Are pricking through the sky’s wide seams;
And soon the moon must show its face,
Like a pearl button stitched in place.
All the long hours of the day
Are finished now and folded away;
Yet the hem is still undone
Where my stitches run.