The Button Maker
written by: Jen Schneider
a man
a machine,
a maker of more
than 1,074,000,000
buttonhole slits –
open for
smooth discs,
rusted dials,
and hope.
amidst increasing tolls –
doves flap wings,
trains roar,
a hummingbird calls,
together,
amidst sun and storm,
trust secured across miles.
the Holocaust —
millions lost,
threads unraveled —
each stitch a step,
each cut a sharp reminder,
of light in dark spaces —
the button maker
knows
how clothes heal souls,
and memories, threaded
of pins and needles,
last forever.
Jen Schneider is an educator who lives, writes, and works in small spaces throughout Pennsylvania. She is a Best of the Net nominee, with stories, poems, and essays published in a wide variety of literary and scholarly journals. She is the author of A Collection of Recollections (Next Chapter), Invisible Ink (Toho Pub), On Daily Puzzles: (Un)locking Invisibility and On Crossroads and Fill in the Blank Puzzles (forthcoming, Moonstone Press), and Blindfolds, Bruises, and Breakups (forthcoming, Atmosphere Press).
Latest posts by Jen Schneider (see all)
- The Button Maker - August 21, 2025
- The Shirt / Suit - May 8, 2025
- Thoughts Threaded - January 27, 2025
