Moirae

They cradle the same ball
          of string, passing it from hand to hand,
knotting and unknotting as if smoothness 
         were an insult to the complications of this life.
Their movements are impossible to intercept,
         or so the myth goes. But don't you wonder
if they ever tire of thinking up the next
        tangle, or where to snip the thread
short, what end to dip in tallow 
         for the slower burn?