Crochet seeks in emptiness
shapes we know exist
and turns them into holes that persist.

Crochet makes absence present:
like the moment of birth when the silence
of the emptied womb becomes the shape of noise.

Silence and noise joined by a thread,
continuously capturing life’s loops—
first words, first tooth, first steps.

Teenage presence is absence by another name:
we know the shape is there
but the doubles and trebles won’t make a granny square.

This presence is like an extra chain
filling up the space, creating a longing
for absence, for metal hangers tinkling

in an emptied wardrobe, for clean bathrooms,
for not having to be the driving elf,
for the space to crochet an outline of ourselves.

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Julie Didcock-Williams' work has been featured in publications such as Wildfire-Words, Blithe Spirit and Cider Press Review. She has a Masters in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmiths College, University of London. Her novel, The Cove, was published in 2020. She lives in rural East Sussex, England, where the landscape inspires her work.

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