Arts & Crafts

There is a code
I will not learn
for how to step
over strangers’
graves, how
to knit anything
other than a shroud.

Instructions say
the yarn must
be loose enough
to weave back
into itself;
The lavender,
the string—
Embroider.

You can practice,
but I quit. I will
never produce
a bonnet. Even
when I try, crafts
come out wrong.
In the cemetery, we
gathered on the hill
to watch fireworks.