I watched her sitting.
Sitting in corner, weaving
Gown reaching the ankle
Golden knit touching the toe
She sat in her world,
away from the world.
All desire to be her,
But like her were few.
Too idle, some would say
And I felt it true.
I couldn’t be like her;
A lady with no wrong.
This world, a speeding train,
I had to change, to adapt,
to run and climb aboard
and now I know
I have run too far away.
But that lady stays.
Stays and weaves her world,
flowing with golden thoughts.
The train chimes and puffs
And I just sit quietly
watching her weave from far away.
This poem captures the dilemma and helplessness of a girl with possibly her mother who represents the older generation embodying traditional values which according to the young girl are hard to adopt in today’s fast moving world. She seems to be sitting in a train and watching a lady weave which triggers her chain of thought. She is leaving the countryside to the town whose culture she has imbibed. The narrator draws comparisons between the “speeding train” and the world. The golden knit is shown to be symbolic of the “golden thoughts” or the pure thoughts that the older generation still nurtures, reminiscing the good old times and shunning the dog-eat-dog world that now prevails.
