Juncture

Juncture

 

 

Measured in inches, yards and miles,

by the hour, month and year

Time unspools smoothly

through your hands, spinning silk.

Until it doesn’t. Until, just as you’ve turned from

silhouettes of other times and possibilities

to the exquisite consciousness of now,

your confounded fingers fumble

with a twist that cannot be untied. Or unpicked.

Such tangles call for intercessions:

Time has come to balance your life-thread

light on its sharp shears

with breath-taking precision.

You see that severance is nothing, after all.

 

 

 

Janet Madden

 

 

Janet Madden was born in Philadelphia and lives in Santa Monica, CA. with her husband, dog, two cats and eight chickens. Her essays and poems have been published in Europe and the US. Janet is a gardener and a prize-winning hand quilter. She earned her PhD in literature from The National University of Ireland, was ordained by The Academy for Jewish Religion-CA and works as a hospice and hospital rabbi.