It is a simple long band of cotton.
It can be held loosely or tightly, used to
Wipe hands of blood, be an emblem
Ornately hung or wrung uselessly.
Tallow dipped as a wick to light the way
For burning souls to enact order
Or revenge at the tattered end. It can
bend to the work of dish rags of caste.
A tool that does not advance, nor retreat.
Piled onto the hands of a few, it takes
The shape, heat, desire of those hands.
It can be ripped into strands or
It can bind the poor's hands and feet,
Or tourniquet the injured, and plaster
A cast for the broken. It can be thrown
As a braided rope to let others escape.
Renewed each day with each swaddled gift
Raised from the womb, twin of Hope.