Giving Back

I often feel helpless when the world won’t stop taking punches.  I constantly dig for the good.  I can never stop digging.  This is the reason for hope.  My poetry brings into the light all that is hidden beneath the tarmac of politics.  It needs to be said; it needs to be written.  Those words tend to leave me breathless, angry, fist raised in the air and something inside of me begins to hush.  Although, I will never stop writing about things that need to be said, I need to find the good in me that reconnects me to the joy that is quenched when I tear back the tarmac.

My sister/friend, Robin, expressed to me that she needed beanies made for preemie babies.  I have been knitting moreso now that we take many roadtrips that allow me the luxury of reading novels or knitting beanies for adults.  I thought to myself, "I can teach myself how to make a preemie beanie.  It's only less stitches!"  I attempted to use my regular sized circular knitting needles and found it impossible to knit such a small circle.  This is when I realized how tiny the babies are that would wear these beanies.  Nothing made it more real than showing Erasmo that the circle was just too small.  It made my heart warm and a lump lodged itself in my throat.  I put the project down for a couple of days until I was able to purchase smaller 5 pointed knitting needles to complete the tiny beanie.

I've since made two and am working on a third one with potential to don a tiny flower or an adorable bow tie right up top.  Knitting something so small for such a small baby has made me realize how important it is to keep giving back.  This fills my heart with joy.  I don't know which preemies will wear these small hats, but I do know that I will make each and every one of them with as much love as I can give.  When tomorrow brings a poem that will kick me to the ground and leave me with fists held high, I will grab my needle and yarn to give back what I can to this world.