Treadle Sewing Machine

My 10 year old feet pressed

on the back of the wide peddle,

sometimes standing with my whole

weight to make it move, then quickly

shuffled to gain control of the runaway

needle piercing the cloth being pulled

under the presser foot. Soon a rhythm

of pumping toe-heel, toe-heel

created soothing music as the

sewing machine hummed with each

pass around the bobbin.

Naida Lavon

June 5, 2022

Manchester University Poetry Class

assignment: Do you have a memory of

a specific tool?