Knot Else

by Diane Webster

With nothing else to do
the rope tangles itself
as it piles into the box
put away
until it might be needed.

Knot, not, naughty
it twirls its strands
like a bored girl listening,
pretending to listen
to her mother.

Knots into knots
the rope encircles
itself until its usefulness
frays into rotten cord
woven into a mouse nest.