Tying the Knot

• We tried the single sheet bend,
• The double sheet bend,
• The double eye knot,
• The sliding overhead knot,
• The round-turn fishhook tie,
• The figure eight knot,
• The half-blood knot,
• The jansik special,
• The homer rhode loop,
• The improved clinch or pandre knot,
• The jam knot with an extra tuck,
• The clinch-on shank,
• The nail loop,
• The loop knot,
• The double loop clinch knot,
• The salmon hook knot,
• The overhead dropper tie,
• The perfection loop knot,
• The extension blood knot,
• The emergency dropper knot,
• The improved dropper loop.
• We tied them, tried them all
• and then cut each other loose.  

Rebecca Chamaa’s poem is an intriguing model of the “list poem,” and a clever poem about failed love. Chamaa, a former social worker, has a collection of poetry and prose that will be published in the next few months. She is editing with her husband Jean-Claude a collection of poetry titled Sundays at Liberty Station and is working on a memoir. Her essays and poetry have been published in Transition, Structo, Pearl, Voice Walks, City Works, A Year in Ink, and other journals. She lives in San Diego.