Thread the Needle

Stitch by stitch.

Winter Webworm Moth (2024) by Aimee Schreiber

I fall apart at the seams
Attempt to stitch myself together again
With another drink
Or another man

A patchwork
Of cheap liquor
And failed trysts
Left, still,
With a moth hole

Shaped exactly like
The way you say my name and
The touch of your hand
On the small of my back

You are an absence
I cannot fill
A presence
I cannot escape

Felt
Whether you are near
Or far

The cause of my unraveling
And the needle
Meant to stitch me back together

Its eye
Thread with your love—
However fickle

Leaving me unsure
Of what to do
With or without you

You are the poison
And the antidote
The ailment
And the cure

What might I do with you,
My love,
When I have already learned 
What to do without you?