Friday's Poetry a Day Late!

Chinese folklore says there is an invisible red thread connecting those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break.

Our Red Thread

It is said that a red thread
connects us,
but the symbolism is lost on me.
I look too deeply.

Is it a sewing thread
fine and agile,
manipulated with capable hands
and barely seen,
but holding us fast?

Or is it a woven thread,
coarse and nubby,
warp of a strong fabric
which we can wrap around us
like a culture blanket from another land?

I feel the warmth
of the fabric - sewn or crafted
and I drift to a memory
of a young man holding a book
and claiming with excitement,
“Look what I found on my father’s bookshelf!”
The complete memoir --  
a snippet of which
we had read in class.
And on the cover I saw the resemblance
of my German grandma
staring back at me through Chinese eyes.
My inexplicable connection,
years before I met you,
to a land I did not know.
                              - Roberta Worthington