Monday, January 2, 2012

Belt

Belt

The verb belt,
meaning to latch
a belt around,

to torture
a garment
by twisting

its lines, to
bring the waist
of a sweater

or dress closer
to the waist
of the wearer.

When I bought
my wedding gown,
I was zipped up

by an Ichabod
Crane-esque
man who claimed

he could put
any girl into any
dress. One

two sizes too
small, he convinced
to close in on me.

In every city
I have lived in,
I find a reliable

tailor. Whatever
is ill-fitting, I
isolate it, threaten

it with thread
and needle,
or leather.

Do you or
someone you
know share

in my fetish
for strategy:
how should we

go about this,
which elegant
approach will

I uncover that
has never spoken
to anyone else.

Strategy or
strangulation,
their hands

look the same,
draped around
a lover’s throat.

6 comments

  1. Elegantly threatening. I liked this - a lot.

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  2. Oooh, somehow, skinny to start with, this gets tighter and tighter as it goes!

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  3. I can feel the closing-in and constriction!

    "Strategy or / strangulation,/ their hands / look the same...." definitely got my attention.

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  4. This is so dark and visceral. I love it!

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  5. This poem is - forgive me - tight.

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  6. Ouch. I felt like I was being squeezed by a boa. For me, the word 'belt' always evokes violence.

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