The quilt pattern, Kansas Trouble,
will not produce a calming effect,
no matter what fabric is used.
Earlene Fowler
Kansas Trouble

Quilts announce hidden murders,
desperate attractions, hidden designs,
a mother's heart spread over space.

Star of David, Story Book, Weddings Rings -- old names, homey
on the bed. Stored away, they hold hope: some body will lie
beside, make new the rapture lived for, solace the moment
of death, honor memory, prolong a dream's dream and sweet
somethings, caresses lifting above the hum-drum.

Kansas Trouble by other names:
Bear-Claw, Little Lost Ship,
Windmill Blades, Indian Trail,
Rocky Road to Kansas. Its pattern
will not let children sleep. It holds
the restless at rage's edge, urges
escape into the sky, knits a cruel knot
of color, frazzles the soul. It has driven
broken lovers into flinty ground.