Crone Wisdom

In the short story "Girl"
Jamaica Kincaid recites
a list of instructions given
by a mother to her daughter.

"Wash white clothes on Monday...
Wash colored clothes on Tuesday... hang on the line
Don't walk bareheaded...
Soak salt fish overnight...
Don't eat fruit on the street flies will follow you...
This is how you grow okra... far from the house
This is how you smile to someone you don't like."

My list:

Keep your unfinished
knitting project
in a freezer baggy
When the mood strikes
you can find all the pieces
and give it another try.

Name the child and size
of a project to be put aside.
I just finished a skirt for Grace
to the length measurement for Frances.
Lots of gathers in that waist band.
Oy!

Use cold water
to wash your finished sweater.
Block on a towel
on the dryer.
(No one will know
you were knitting
instead of doing laundry
on Monday."

Smile at everyone.

This crone has
a few tricks up
her sleeve.