String Figures

what do you do when you want to learn something

                and there is no one to teach you?

I remember from the grainy shadows of my youth

two girls passing a string back and forth

                a string formed in changing patterns, cat’s cradle.

 the cavernous anthropology section of the university library

                row upon row, stack upon stack

                I run my finger along the book bindings

                not looking down I stumble

                reach out for support

                grab a book as I fall

“Aboriginal String Figures and How to Make Them”

That book became my teacher

I tie a length of string together

and go through page by page

                “Jacob’s Ladder”

                “Apache Door”

                “Many Stars”

Follow the words

                do opening “A”

                step one

                step two

                drop the string off the little finger

                insert the thumb

                now do a Navajo Leap

So easy, but then I get to step five and I have to turn the page

                I look at the book

                then at my hands

                the tangle of string trying to make a getaway

                open my mouth

                stick out my tongue

                and go onto step six.