Magic Needles

Magic Needles
Outside the front door
Grandmother props her table
of wool and silken yarns
for customers to buy.
Her fingers lightly flutter,
and dance with yarn and needle.
She keeps the silkworms busy.
"Slow down!" I hear them cry.
Sic-sic, sic-sic, sic-sic.
The bamboo needles chatter
as one sock , then another
appears between her hands.
Sic- sic, sic-sic, sic-sic.
Her joints grow cold and stiffen.
She sips hot tea to warm them
as passersby admire
the best socks in the land.
By Nikki Grimes