Prison Knitting

With the click of my needles I round, round, round.
They judged me, condemned me, and now I am bound.
I fashion and shape, and weave wool into stocking.
My world and my knitting, heedless of mocking.

With the click of my needles I knit, knit, knit,
Not like Madame Defarge for heads to be cut,
But thousands of hearts to be knit and close bound
Like stitches in knitting the universe round.

With the click of my needles I dream, dream, dream
On visions so dazzling they’re like the sun’s beam.
In shaping my thoughts with the heel and the toe
I’ve finished two tasks, and content, let them go. 

Clara Gilbert Cole from Prison Impressions (1918) https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/clara-gilbert-cole-prison-impressions (Originally posted by https://forgottenanarchism.wordpress.com).