-- Some Knots Never Untie --

John Herlihy

Some knots exist for which there is no untying,

So intricately entwined that allows for no denying.

Love, for example, can display knots bound up tight,

So firmly emmeshed there is scarcely room for light.

Other knots so loose, they can hardly claim a name,

Ready to be unraveled without notice or any blame.

When tightly wound, knots hardly catch their breath,

Conjuring a strange feeling that approximates death.

The endless knot holds an intricacy that can appeal,

Always tightly bound so as not too much to reveal.

In climbing steep mountains, the essential knot saves,

While dangling from sheer cliffs, lost amid misty waves.

The square knot signifies a close brotherhood that binds;

The reef knot always remains secure and never resigns.

What is secure rope but the mesh of intertwining cords;

Knots so fluid and rhythmic they appear like words.

Beware the water knot known at times to be unsafe,

Called in Germany the death-knot because it isn’t safe.

Perhaps the tightest knot of all is the emotional knot,

Tightly bound up in a trap that a person never sought.

With our tongue tied in knots, it is difficult to speak,

Giving every appearance to others of being shy or weak.

The gordian knot wound tightly with no formal appeal.

Who but the conqueror Alexander its secret to steal?

Beware any and all knots for which there is no untying,

Trussed up in a slave’s world which there is no denying.

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(c) John Herlihy 19 May 2019