"Green Thread" by Vivian Finley Nida

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to present “Green Thread” by Vivian Finley Nida.  Nida is a Teacher/Consultant with the Oklahoma Writing Project, affiliated with the University of Oklahoma.  Her work has appeared in the Oklahoma Writing Project Centennial Anthology, Oklahoma English Journal, and Westview:  Journal of Western Oklahoma.  Nida holds a BA in English and an MS in Secondary Education from Oklahoma State University and is a retired teacher of English, Creative Writing, and Advanced Composition.  She lives with her husband in Oklahoma City. 

Green Thread

Vivian Finley Nida

        

At the kitchen table the girl swings

bare feet above polished jade linoleum

sips sweet tea, mint sprigged, embroiders

stems to support first apron’s wide-eyed daisies

Outside they bow to St. Augustine runners visiting

Nandina stretching behind them

The air conditioner wakes from a dream

of glaciers, blows his Arctic breath

        

Like a pine frosted by the wind

she shivers to the porch and

backs against warm shingles in honeysuckled air

shoos an iridescent fly

Envious, she looks at Kitty in her fur coat

who brushes legs and pleads

with emerald eyes for arms to hold

Glad for the company she crosses

the lawn, passes weeping willow, heads

to the other side where she sits

in flowered clover, pierces and threads

stems, chains necklaces and searches

for four-leafed rarities

that stretch luck

Poet’s Notes:  This began as an exercise using a color in the title and continuing to present it without restating it.  As soon as the kitchen floor came to mind, I knew green was my color.  With its association to new beginnings, I placed myself as a child there and the images of this carefree time simply unfolded—a stretch of luck!

Editor’s Note:  I was transported to a happy place as I read.  The green thread is woven throughout in a magical way.