I keep thinking at the moment about the word unravel/unravelling, and how it has so many distinct meanings. When something is unravelling it can be hugely destructive as it comes apart and is destroyed, perhaps never being able to be put together in the same way or for the same function. There are also positive meanings, perhaps an unravelling being an unveiling or revealing of something that was previously hidden or unseen. I think an unravelling also provides the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the parts of something and what makes it work. This poem is about trying to capture some of those different meanings, particularly how they might relate and apply when our own lives feel as if they are unravelling.
I am unravelling,
I wonder what kind of unravelling it will be.
Will I come apart at the seams,
Insides split open, completely revealed.
A deconstructing disruption,
A rupture, a ruction,
A demising, dismantling, total destruction.
I am unravelling,
I wonder what kind of unravelling it will be.
Will I sever, untether what I know should never
Have ever been threaded together,
A separating, a disintegrating.
Remaking, replacing,
They start with a breaking.
I am unravelling,
I wonder what kind of unravelling it will be.
Will I finally start to see,
As all that’s concealed is gently revealed.
A code that’s cracked after loads of hard graft,
Unfurling, unfolding,
The veil drawn back.
I am unravelling,
I wonder what kind of unravelling it will be.
