The Quilting Machine

Assembled, it rests in an upper room,

Metal, a long frame holds it:

The Ansley made by Tin Lizzie. 

It is digital and how holds its tread, bobbins, spools,

Is the answered prayer of ancestors long gone,

Women whose fingers with varying levels of grace

Quilted the quilts which warmed us all. 

Consider how, backing, matting, top

Mounted on the frame,

Its monitor's screen an analog of a human brain.

Pattern chosen, button pushed,

The machine moves over its frame

Sewing the pattern with robotic grace.

--June 19, 2013