Needle & Thread

~ Mia Pharaoh

Photographer Ilse Bing — Poster, Henry VIII, 1934

 

Needle & Thread
The Glue That Binds Us


Charred sentiment dispensed
The remains of our days,
Spent: cleaved away
As leaves torn of paper.

Distant memories engaged
The feeble free fall
End over end;
Tumbled as pigeons
Latched together
With arms open.
We headed towards
Eliot’s perpetual April;
Never gave thought
To the tire of love.
Youth’s newness: blind elation
Staved off the wolves of reality.
Salt of the earth
Took leave, our loss;
We pushed the pieces forward.

Soiled uniforms
Dressed in suits of grace,
Cumbersome and too large,
We traced our paths
Again and again;
With dogged determination
We dragged ourselves
Through foot worn ruts.
In the end, we realized
There would be no phoenix
To rise from the ash.

 

“It may have been in pieces, but I gave you the best of me.”
― Jim Morrison


Hindi Zahra – “At The Same Time”                                                     Transformation

 

62 thoughts on “Needle & Thread”

    1. Hi Rob! Yes, this is just the creative inquisitive side of me, always wondering, and always asking why? No dark days here. There are so many questions that go unanswered. Relationships are hard even in the best circumstances, at least this has been my experience, but I just get out the needle and thread! 😉 Thank you for your kind words. Have a wonderful evening and a terrific Wednesday. Take good care. ~ Mia

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  2. I am reading this with regard to a relationship… Sometimes there’s nothing left at the end. But maybe two phoenix (what on earth is the plural of phoenix?) can rise separately from the ash. Tell me if I’m way off. I read poetry very subjectively. I really like all the imagery this presents. And the Jim Morrison quote – wonder what he would have become if he’s stuck around?

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    1. Meg, you are not off at all. It is about the idea of the relationship. The onset of a new relationship is always so beautiful if not pretty, we can often be blinded by those sparks. But what about the staying power? Do we soldier through when it gets bumpy, even when we don’t like each other all that much at times? Oh god, and there will be no phoenixes, this is a complete bummer! 😉 Yes, I had to look it up, I was afraid it might be something funky like cacti or fungi, ha-ha! I’m delighted to read that you enjoyed the visuals, thank you. You’ve got to love the Lizard King as much as he loved himself. Truly, I’m a fan of Jim Morrison. I read not long ago that he was spotted living in an asylum some where in France, but who really knows. I think the speculation leans towards he’s alive, but kind of on the fringe.

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      1. I would love to find out he’s alive. I visited his grave in Paris a few years back. Which has been vandalized – his head was stolen (it wasn’t me!) but I can’t imagine him being alive and not being creative somehow… Anyway really ‘enjoyed’ this sad but beautiful work! ❤️

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        1. Me too! After I mentioned the asylum bit, I did a little looking around, and found that had been debunked. Now there is some buzz about him being in New York. I’m always intrigued by these types of rumors. Too bad you don’t have his head, imagine what it would fetch! Thank you again, I’m pleased that you enjoyed this. Have a great day Meg! 🙂 ❤

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  3. Hi Mia, This is a wonderful post. I almost started to fill with a little melancholy, with the line after line of stubborn love headed for that April breakdown, but then again I thought I have never seen a winning team that didn’t have “Soiled uniforms”. I really enjoyed this piece Mia. Have a great day. Daniel

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    1. Hi Daniel, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, you’re always so kind. I think you’re right, there’s a bit of melancholy as well as the bitter-sweetness of the staying power of love. I also think love changes as the years march on, not to say that’s bad, it’s just different, yet love can endure in a very good way. Thank you again, enjoy the day. ~ Mia

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  4. The T.S. Eliot reference to the cruelest month fits this perfectly. I should feel sad after reading this but can’t help but smile with satisfaction from such a well-written poem. 🙂 P.S. Love the Doors…in pieces. 😉

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    1. Hi Michael, I’m smiling but you can’t see it. Thank you for your kind words. I’m so pleased that you got that Eliot reference, as it’s a key to understanding the poem. It’s sad, but we continue on. I wonder what it is about youth, that we seem to be careless or carefree, and run blindly into the fire. Glad that you liked the Lizard King’s quote, Morrison was rather brilliant at times. Wishing you a wonderful week. ~ Mia 🙂

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      1. Awww Mia, I like that you smiled! 😀 Interesting thoughts about youth…. It makes me think about a recent post of yours around different paths and options…and perhaps being able to adjust. It seems that as we get older, we are living with the results of our decisions. New choices take on greater weight because we appreciate consequences more and there is less time to recover from choosing the wrong path. I suspect this drives away from the fire and towards the safe warmth of the center. On another note, your post title made me think about how you are truly a “needle in the haystack”! I imagine all of your followers (especially me) feel fortunate to have found you. :D:-*

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        1. Thank you Michael, for a very kind reply. For sure, “the safe warmth of the center” would be ideal. I agree, as we get older, I think we’re more cautious about decisions that will have long lasting implications or “consequences”. Laughing a bit, thinking of relationships in terms of implications and consequences! 😉 Here’ to a wonderful Wednesday!

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  6. Feeling torn away, memories of falling like “pigeons” down with open arms, blind to the reality of life — “free falling” no thought of consequence. “Youthfulness and blind elation” hold off reality “the wolves.” If we fell and died, became ashes, we would have mixed with “the salt of the earth.” Growth from us even though, salt let’s nothing grow. We “push” the pieces of our lives ahead. We’re dressed in “grace” – undeserved mercy, but we bare the stains of our sins and the mercy is ill fitting. We made the same mistakes over and over. We didn’t learn we traced the same “worn ruts.” And as life neared its end, we didn’t realize,we are not the Phoenix who rises from his ashes after each death. We have one life and we didn’t learn not to make the same mistakes over and over. I can’t help but think, that’s humanity, history repeating.

    Wonderful thought provoking piece Mia. I hope you’re well. Have a great week 🙂

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    1. Dear Amanda, thank you so much. I’m always blown away by your interpretations, you seem to be able to read my mind, again you are spot on. I agree, I think of humanity too, the human condition. We are imperfect, making mistake after mistake. So true, “salt lets nothing grow”, but we don’t give up completely, pushing ourselves onward. I think we all strive for grace, consciously and subconsciously. I love how you paraphrased the following beautifully, “but we bare the stains of our sins and the mercy is ill fitting”, yes! Really nothing in life can be taken for granted, both love and life can be so fragile, even brutal at times. Love of any type is always so pretty in the beginning, and with time as with all things, it changes and settles into something more than “blind elation”. I like to think about the idea of “the staying power”, while things may not be perfect, hopefully remembering what’s important.

      Thank you for your wonderful words Amanda. I hope you’re well too, and please have a great week. ~ Mia 🙂

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      1. Thank you Mia. You as well. I like your idea of love with “staying power.” You know these marriages our grandparents some have lasting 50 years plus. As long as they don’t make each other miserable 🙂

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  7. This is beautiful and evocative. I’m always impressed with how you match a photo to your poem and to a quote and song. You involve so many senses and they always work so well. 😊

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    1. Thank you so much Vic, for a very lovely comment. I’m so pleased that you mentioned the senses, it’s kind of like a collage. I’m happy that you think that it works, that’s always the plan, but you know how plans go sometimes. 🙂 I hope that you’re having a wonderful evening and please have a terrific Wednesday! Take good care. ~ Mia

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        1. Thanks Vic, it has been a good evening, happy yours was good too. I want to let you know that I rescued your last comment from the spam folder. I don’t want to believe it’s starting all over again.

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  8. Brilliant Mia, this is lovely and loads of great lines, plus references to Eliot and phoenixes and birds and wolves. April is indeed the cruellest month, though the other 11 can be quite cutting as well. I do hope the phoenix does rise from the ashes.

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    1. Mr. Cake, thank you for a lovely comment. Oh yes, ha, the other eleven can surely be brutal too, cutting even. Yes, the phoenix rises with the sun, brushes off the ash and begins another day. True perpetual motion in action.

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  11. “foot worn ruts” What a great line to describe the evolution of a relationship. Mia. It’s a shame too many people “burn” each other up. It’s also a shame that JM burned himself up wherever he is… Be well. -Chris

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    1. Thanks Chris! It was either rut or groove, rut won, a better fit I think. It is a shame, relationships are work, it’s magical thinking to believe they’re not. Really, where is Jim Morrison? Wishing you a terrific Wednesday, take care. ~ Mia

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  12. So true, especially if we allowed deferred maintenance to go unaddressed in our relationships. Like deferred maintenance in anything, there comes a point it’s irreparable.

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  13. Your words and presentation are a sumptuous feast for the senses Mia. When it comes to love and relationships , a needle and thread and a great bottle of wine can make our travels along the way a bit more bearable. I adore the Morrison quote and the lovely voice of Hindi Zahra. This song has a very 1930’s Billie Holiday feel. It’s always such a pleasure to stop by and visit your blog. Enjoy the rest of your week! – Lola 🙂

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    1. Thank you so much Lola, for your lovely comment. It’s all about the travel and the path taken, but always bring the wine along! Morrison is or was quite the guy, what a talent. I’m glad that you like Hindi Zahra, a great torch singer, she does have a Billie Holiday feel. Please enjoy the rest of your week too. ~ Mia

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  16. The creative side of you, always brings a smile to my face. 🙂

    My favorite stanzas.

    We traced our paths
    Again and again;
    With dogged determination
    We dragged ourselves
    Through foot worn ruts.

    Relationships are hard to maintain as a balance. At the end of the day, we get to appreciate the best moments of our loved ones.

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    1. Hi Charlie, so true finding balance is a constant job, I think that’s true with just about everything. Relationships are the hardest job by far. You’re right it’s the moments, the special moments. Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m pleased you smiled. 🙂 Please enjoy the rest of your Sunday evening and have a terrific week ahead. Take care. ~ Mia

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  17. I have thought about love and relationships so much, what it means, what it should and shouldn’t. I think from the 70’s onwards, there was such a reversal when it comes to marriage and divorce that we’ve swung too far the other way. People finally got the “okay” from society to leave loveless marriages without stigma-and that’s a wonderful thing-but it seems people don’t really try anymore. Relationships can be consumed and discarded like McDonald’s hamburgers. I think common sense is lacking in so many people. There’s got to be a middle ground between suffering needlessly and throwaway relationship, right?
    I also think all the Nicholas Sparks “literature” out there is not only nausea inducing but it has bred such unrealistic expectations in people. Love changes, it cannot (and shouldn’t) stay the same. Isn’t it a worthy challenge to try and go through the different currents together and see what they bring? Rather than just give up at the first wave that leaves you suffocating with a mouthful of salty water?
    But, I’m sorry for going on, your writing got me thinking, like it always does 🙂
    It’s beautifully written but particularly keen on these: Tumbled as pigeons
    Latched together
    With arms open.
    Have a lovely day, Mia 🙂

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    1. Thank you, Nathalie, the thoughts you’ve shared are fantastic. Without a doubt the stigma associated with a failed relationship/marriage was an unfair burden, which probably resulted in two very unhappy individuals staying together. Today it almost seems like the odd one is the person that wants to work through the difficult times. Who ever said relationships were easy? Do people forget that in a way it’s a job, probably the most important and difficult one to be done. (You show up and do it.) So yes, where is the common sense? Have we become so immune and callous that everything is disposable and replaceable in a society of, “it’s all about me”?

      “Love changes, it cannot (and shouldn’t) stay the same”. Absolutely, nothing ever remains the same, nothing. I have to believe we’ve all had the failed relationship, the one that cannot be saved, or in fact should not be saved. Life offers no guarantees, yet I hope that would not stop us from trying to find the right person to drag through the ruts with us (now we know what we don’t want). How dreadful would that be if we never changed? And sure, when we change that challenges the dynamics of the relationship, at times we may not even like each other, but do we give up and walk away? I don’t think so, I’ll be the soiled uniform, dressed in grace giving it one hell of a go.

      When you commit to commit, you commit, mouthfuls of salty water and all. 😉

      Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday Nathalie, and thank you again for such a lovely comment. Take good care. ~ Mia 🙂

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      1. What a fantastic reply, Mia. I’m glad you waited until you had time to write your thoughts down. I could not agree more, if I commit then I’m going to give it everything. You’d have to be a fool to think relationships or anything else in life is easy and always plain sailing (forgive the cliché). When you go through storms with somebody, you develop a depth in the relationship that is impossible to attain any other way, and it’s worth more than gold.
        Thank you again for your thoughtful reply. It’s so good to know there are others out there who share one’s feelings and principles.
        Have a lovely Wednesday 🙂 Nathalie

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        1. Thank you Nathalie, it’s truly wonderful to know that I’m not alone with my thoughts on this topic, as I often feel very much part of a voiced but silent minority. I hope you’re having a wonderful day too.
          ~ Mia 🙂

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