The Great Thread

Alex Byford

Just like our world, except,

All filament, all stitch, all knit, all seam,

The vines of a strawberry plant, long strands of green wool,
The leaves of a strawberry plant, green fibres tailored to the shape,

Me and you,
Human beings made of tether,
All objects and matter,
Sewn carefully together,

Solids woven tightly, liquids woven lightly,
Warm weavening breeze messing my knitted hair,
Felt a twitch in a toe, at first I couldn't tell,

Then couldn't not,
Pulled at a frayed end, tweaked a bit of soft twine,
Wrapped it quietly round my finger, held it dangling in front of my only eye,
A hanging line,

I pulled at it again because oh no,
It didn't just come away,
The thread was just part of a longer thread,

It was every blade of grass,
It was the bricks of an already ruined building, bricks
And glass—unravelling, I tried to save things,

Tried to tie, but to my surprise, as I yanked yarn to recover, the sky blanket over, began to
Unravel, and a column of black light pierced through,
My lines,
And the lines around
Me,
Looked at each other,

But I keep pulling,
I see what looks like a heat haze as the invisible strings of the very air I breathe join the great thread,
I see rocks, cars, a trumpet, a light bulb, all join the great thread,
I see space, the sun, the planets, comets, asteroids, other planets, other stars, solar systems, a GALAXY.

Until all that is left is one seemingly infinitely long,
Stretched out—not strewn—straight as a perfect compass—hanging line but taut,
Bits of me along different parts of the epic rope,
Wondering to myselves, ourselves,
Is this more or less of a mess?

The Science

The poem explores chaos and disorder through the narrators experience and feelings of the events that transpire. The idea of the 'Great Thread' itself is inspired partly by the potential fate of our own universe—the Big Freeze, AKA the heat death of the universe.

The Poet

Alex Byford is a Science Communicator based in Cambridgeshire. He is particularly interested in STEM and art, science fiction, and the history of science.

Next poem: The Second Law by Poulami Somanya Ganguly