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Lorraine Padden

Unfinished Material

A basket of scraps overflows in the corner. Despite the stifling heat, her feet are wedded to the shiver of a treadle Singer. One of many maidens in white linen trying to make ends meet, that late March afternoon in Greenwich Village.

ripping seams
generations push against
a locked door

Note: Title borrowed from a 1911 New York Times article describing the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire that killed over 100 immigrant women and girls.

About the Author

Lorraine Padden

Lorraine A Padden is a Touchstone Award–winning poet whose honors also include prizes from Tricycle Magazine, the Haiku Society of America, the Tokutomi International Haiku Competition, and the National Endowment for the Arts, among others. Upwelling, her first collection of haiku and related short forms, was published by Red Moon Press in 2022. Find more at lorrainepadden.com.

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