Pattern by Angie Smith

The May 14 blog post "Pattern" by Angie Smith is a masterpiece.

What makes good writing is the ability to convey a very particular moment vividly and concretely, while at the same time, connecting that moment to something universal.

She writes of sewing, of trying to return to a dress she had started to make in the past, and sewing becomes a metaphor for a relationship.  She says:

"It would have been beautiful if I had just paid attention when it was new, and now I’m left with the pieces."

and

"But it wasn’t the fabric I loved. It wasn’t even the finished product. It was watching the needle and knowing that it was working all the time to mend, even as it pierced. It looks like it’s dangerous, and as if it’s wounding. It tears through layers and even through skin. I’m convinced it will come away flawed and torn, and then I see the beauty of it all. And the hum of the sewing machine reminds me again what it looks like to allow yourself to be wounded because you believe in what will one day come of it all."