Armed Introduction

Elizabeth Witte

     Hold your frame while I tarnish. Be on time in your
gray blue wool suit. Squint and slip out of your shoes.

Be oceanic for a minute. Porcelain organs crack.

Mouthwatering overripe, grown from almost everything.

             I am your hand. Gold filigree decorates your neck.
I am socks. Your calluses: useless. I drop water

        on your head as I reach over you to quench my thirst.

    Wool shorn from the flock   what makes you naked?
Wasp. A husk. Cloth woven: warp and weft. Your teeth

have their vulnerable gums.   Hands are claws.  Cracks
fill the chest.  Textiles pulsate.  Silk, you’re pretty.

                        I am my own neck.   Hello.


Elizabeth Witte lives/works in and around Somerville, Massachusetts. Recent work has been published or is forthcoming in Shampoo, Glitter Pony, and LIES/ISLE.