Students - Last week I attended a fun fall brunch with a bunch of friends. We started talking about mending our favorite old clothes when they become torn and worn. I have not spent time mending before, but I have wanted to...so this was an inspiring conversation for me.
One of my friends, Katie, showed us a dress she had mended for a friend of hers. It had large holes in it from a bicycle catch, and she sewed bird print fabric into the holes. Now the dress has birds peeking out! This mend was a birthday gift for her friend, and Katie has generously offered to do "birthday mends" for other friends too.
Such attention-grabbing mending, with bright colors and creative patterns, is called "visible mending" or "creative mending." Of course you can mend with the color that matches your fabric, to make the repair disappear. But there is something whimsical about adding design and pattern and splash to old garments.
This poem is about me...and not about me. Today I really will be finishing the mend you see above. But this poem is about everybody who mends. And while I am a girl, I decided to make the character in this poem a boy. When we write, we do not have to make every single bit of our writing true to life. We have permission to play with the world and with our words too.
If you are wondering what to write about, consider making a list in your notebook of things you have mended or fixed or repaired or healed. Think of things that you have seen others mend or fix or repair or heal - for themselves or for you or for someone else. There is a world of stories here. You may find something on your list that you wish to write more about.
Bridget is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup at wee words for wee ones with a peace poem by Angela De Groot. Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.
May you mend and be mended... And if you come back later, you'll see a photograph of my completed stitching!
