Pele Knits a Scarf for Poli’ahu
Elizabeth Vignali
The oakum is difficult to work with
Salt-stiffened and fibrous with rancor
Your snow has stolen my fingertips
I sing to drown out the raging wind
Vowels ride away on your white plurals
The up of yours and the down of mine
Forests have grown over
The meadows of me and you
Fires burn out as fires will
And even so
Remember the nights of fire picked over?
We still look for remnants in the quiet ash
Elizabeth Vignali is an optician and writer in the Pacific Northwest, where she coproduces the Bellingham Kitchen Sessions reading series. She is the author of Object Permanence (Finishing Line Press, 2014). Her poems have appeared in various publications, including Willow Springs, Cincinnati Review, The American Journal of Poetry, Tinderbox, The Literary Review, and Natural Bridge.