On the day I tumbled into this world,

a specter set up a spinning wheel

inside my heart’s hollow.

She coiled all my notions

like clumps of wool and wound

them round her spindle.

Twisting foundational

fibers, she teased out

a narrow cord,

fabricating self-doubt

with nimble fingers that felt

impervious to pricking.

As we trundle along, I cling

to this twine, tenuous with wear,

dreaming of a time when that strand snaps

and sends the specter reeling.

Seizing the wheel, I’ll rethread the leader,

and spin a more serviceable yarn.

Teresa Burns Murphy is the author of a novel, The Secret to Flying (TigerEye Publications). Her writing has been published in several places, including The Bookends Review, Chicago Quarterly Review, Doubleback Review, Evening Street Review, Gargoyle Magazine, Literary Mama, The Literary Nest, The Opiate, The Penmen Review, River and South Review, Slippery Elm Literary Journal, Sparks of Calliope, Stirring: A Literary Collection, The Word’s Faire, and The Write City Review. She earned her MFA from George Mason University and her EdD from the University of Memphis. Visit her at https://www.teresaburnsmurphy.com.