Life Is the Backside of Embroidery by Aasfa Siddiqui | One Poem Only

One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise. Life Is the Backside Of Embroidery by Aasfa SiddiquiAasfa SiddiquiI’ve been thinking about it latelylife feels like the backside of embroidery.All I see are the knots,threads pulling in opposite directions,lines crossing with no pattern,like someone stitched it blindfolded.But thenflip it.Turn it over.And there it is.The picture you never thought was formingflowers blooming where only knots existed,Maybe that’s just my side of the cloth.Maybe God sees the other.The one I’m not allowed to touch yet.The side where these very knotshold the picture together.Maybe heartbreak is just a red threadmeant to shape the outline of something larger.Maybe loneliness is a dark patchthat gives contrast to all the light.Maybe even the useless stitches,the ones we regret,add texture,depth,weight.When the fabric is turned,perhaps at the very end,we’ll see itevery knot holding the shape,every crooked linepart of the symmetry.The mess will finally look like meaning,and the backside will make senseeverything we called chaoswill glow with perfect order.Faithisn’t about seeing the image at all,but walking through the confusion,believing that nothing here is wasted.That even the ugliest loopsare part of a beautyI can’t see from this side.And soI stop trying to untangle everything.I let the threads dangle where they want.I trust that someone’s handsgentler than mineknow what they’re weaving.And if being lost in these tanglestill means I’m stitched into His design,then let me remain hereknotted, confused,but never outside the pattern.So yes,life is the backside of embroidery,and God is the One who sees the picture.We are just the threadsmoving in loops,crossing over one another,wondering why it hurts,never knowing we’ve been part of beautyall along.Until then,we keep living in the knots,trusting the Weaver.Because life, as we know it,is never the front side.It’s the backsideMore from Aasfa Siddiqui ↓@readwithshifa on Instagram@readwithshifa on SubstackSupport + Stay Connected to OPOIf you’d like to support the show, Substack and Patreon members receive a copy of my book, For My Daughter, along with episodes from the audiobook.Poetry slows us down. Thank you for listening.