Skin Deep, a love poem

Knit and purl.
It’s a herringbone world.
We’re sewn together
and together, we sow
one cell at a time,
integumentary rhyme,
a molecular snare.
We’re a pair!
Like socks,
adorned and adored
one by the other,
stitched over hoop
and overstitched raw;
the zigzag law of
love knots:
tight, loose,
parallel, cross.
All into rising
ribbons of flesh
over branches of bone,
a wreath of wrinkles.
Baby’s breath
tucked into continents of coral.
Wrapped,
we’re open.
Dermatoglyphs, whorled,
bind at the tips
of loving and tying
until all is counted;
but not unraveled,
not dying.

 

Rivka Nomberg comes from a family of Talmudic scholars, doctors, and woodworkers. Her interests include gardening, cooking, medicine, and raising teenage boys. She lives in Arizona.

 

 

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