"Threads of Feeling"

Fabric swatch, token, an identifying "record"
of a mother & baby
Threads of Feeling - The Foundling Museum

Threads of Feeling

I wish I'd a gossamer braid, 

sheer and silky,

yet all I have 

is a faded floral cotton square

that joins a red striped camblet 

(snippet of a mother's gown?),

and colorful ribbons trussed together, 

scarlet flowered chintz,

woolen heart, and threadbare sleeve 

of berries red and white.

Witness a calico bird pinned 

to newborn's chest

beneath a mother's tears 

and fears he'll be laid to rest

before she can return, 

if she can return.

Godspeed, little one, 

with this swatch do remember me,

this snippet still warm from my skin
I place upon yours, 

so dear to me...

so lost to me.

by Margaret Bednar, March 8, 2018

This is linked to "dVerse Poets Pub - Poetics - Threads of Feeling"  London's Foundling Hospital opened in 1739.   Mothers brought their babies there due to poverty and other reasons (some hoped to return to reclaim them but most never were able to and some babies died)  Mothers left a token, as proof of identity in case they did manage to return.  If you click on the "Threads of Feeling" link below you will see a few fabrics left behind (display in an exhibit in 2010/11).

Threads of Feeling
The Foundling Museum