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.