Threads


The irresponsive silence of the land,
The irresponsive sounding of the sea
Speak both one message of one sense to me:–
Aloof, aloof, we stand aloof, so stand
Thou too aloof bound with the flawless band
Of inner solitude; we bind not thee;
But who from thy self-chain shall set thee free?
What heart shall touch thy heart? what hand thy hand?–

Christina Rossetti ~ The Thread of Life

Sunday Sayings: Christina Rossetti’s “Threads of Life” poem of solitudinal separation has, in the context of current catastrophes, a most telling veracity.