Last week, inspired by Tricia Stohr-Hunt’s National Poetry Month project, I wrote a gogyohka in response to a photo of my mother and her twin sister. Like Tricia, I have found family archives to be rich source material for poems. One of the treasures I have is a diary of my grandmother’s from 1936. Times were tough for my grandparents throughout the Depression and many of her entries detail the small ways they scraped by. January of that year was bitterly cold, and Grandma was knitting a scarf for my uncle, but she ran out of yarn. She sounds so relieved when she finally “got to town” to get more yarn that the first line of William Carlos Williams’ famous poem popped into my head instantly.
So much depends
upon
a skein of red
wool
soft as a
petal
spun into a
scarf
by two nimble
hands.
Draft © Catherine Flynn, 2022
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Reading to the Core 
Oh, I like that poem! WCW-inspired, to boot.
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Amazing how much weight a skein of wool can carry. Your poem captures that perfectly, Catherine.
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A beautiful image, Catherine. Thank you!
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I love the idea of digging through family archives for poem ideas! I may do that. Thanks for the inspiration!
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I am reading Write for Your Life (2022) by Anna Quindlen and in the book she talks about how writing is so important to process our life and the lives of others. WCW was a physician! I learned that from Quindlen’s book yesterday. Your poem speaks of the processing of life as well. Thanks for sharing!
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Simply beautiful. I love it!
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I love the inspiration for this poem as much as the poem itself. Such richness in reading your grandmother’s words.
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I love how Tricia’s project, and now yours, capturing family history in poetry.
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Oh, I love your take on William Carlos Williams’ poem! What a gem.
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The warmth in that scarf, the warmth in this poem – what a lovely way to honor your family members, and WCW too. (Not to mention inspiration from Tricia!) And what a treasure that diary must be. xo
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I love to picture her hands nimbly knitting, your uncle’s neck wrapped in red wool and love.
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