Beginner's Quilt by Geoffrey Philp

Recently I stumbled onto the poetry of Miami, FL poet, Geoffrey Philp and was heartwarmed by his Thanksgiving offering. Geoffrey has published Twelve Poems and A Story for Christmas, and the thriller, Benjamin, My Son. You know me, I had to ask if he'd composed any poems about quilting, quilts or quiltmakers. He had not. Then, to my utter surprise, a second email arrived hours later .... the poem below, composed yesterday about his mother and uncle. Thank you for sharing your words with us Geoffrey!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Beginner's Quilt by Geoffrey Philp
(for Kyra)

When my mother began this quilt,
she started with the Roman Stripe,
the simplest pattern, so she could learn
to embroider even the most difficult fabrics:
my grandmother's torn comforter,
a shirt she starched and ironed over coals
for her brother's interview in Bethel Town
before he drowned, pieces
that had been abandoned
on the scrapheap, behind the dumpster,
the ones no one wanted
and weren't from the same color family,
for she could only see shades of light,
medium, and dark which she measured,
folded, and stitched into her tapestry of love.