Trends
Come fall, I grudgingly wore
Mother's knitted, polyester-blend scarves
wrapped around my neck, trifold,
knotted in back, hooded jacket squeezed
as if by a python.
Matching mittens if I were lucky,
leftover lengths of yarn cleverly striated;
little did I know the skill involved.
Shawls, cowls, socks, hats
she fashioned, knitting at night,
fireside. It was her therapy,
her creative outlet,
and I complained, wanting fashions
between the covers
of Montgomery Ward & Sears,
not realizing sister and I were wearing
the greatest trend of all;
her love.
by Margaret Bednar, September 27, 2025
My mohter knit until her dying day. I have her last incomplete project - a purple scarf and I cherish it. I have a pair of her mittens - almost too small for my hands - yet I slip them on and hold my face. I have socks she made me and I wore holes in them - I can't throw them out. She did transition to better quality yarn - but when we were kids she didn't have the money.
Happy Fall everyone. It's been a while since I've written poetry and it feels good. Thank you for this space to share and be inspired!
12 comments:
The last two lines of the poem is very touching.
Good to see your poems again. Lovely tribute to your mother. We are all guilty of never fully appreciating the love given to us as young things. It is only later in life we become aware.
Nice looking scarf. You wore one like it walking to school, I did? Do you remember the song, "They paved Paradise . . .? It had the words , " . .
. you don't know what you've got until it's lost . . " For some reason that's what I was reminded of. "
Oh what a beautiful tribute and I love that scarf. Yes mothers give us lots of warmth and we not always realise it
Margaret! What an absolute delight reading your poem today. And though I am 'much' older than you ... my sisters and I also never fully realized just what we were wearing every day to school, to our proms .... sending love.
I enjoyed this lovely reminiscence! And it took me back. In my family it was my paternal grandmother who did all the knitting, and she also taught me to crochet, which I have continued to do all my life and once even earned money teaching it to others. I've done a bit of knitting too, and some of it I'm very proud of, but I love it less than the crochet. I stopped dressing my sons in my own creations about halfway through primary school, when they went into that hatred of being 'different' in any way which we all seem to experience at that age.
I love the way you draw us in to this warm and loving memory - like the steady click of knitting needles - Jae
Lovely last lines. 👏
A touching poem and a lovely tribute to mother's love. Unfortunately, we tend to not appreciate fully all the good things in our life until we lose them...
Wonderful tribute to your mom.
Looking back, you might feel regret for not having worn her knitted stuff more proudly like medals. But if she's looking down at you now, she might be smiling from ear to ear.
Cheers,
CRD
Do drop by mine.
Aw! My mother-in-law was a knitter too. I miss her very much. I really like this very personal way of interpreting the prompt.
I love this, Margaret! Your ending was perfect, and reminded me of my mother who was always knitting something.
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