Glamour [A corruption of grammar]

A corruption of grammar—what knowledge

I have come by comes through the eyes

To my hands—lightning runs the skeleton:

Skull to spine and phalange, dirt, then grass.

I gather what else can be cast: die, a spell,

A glance, lots, off—the lace edge that frets,

Frays, when caught. I keen at the bellow, then

Burn the thick marrow. Mar the smear of kohl

Into a plume of smoke above the burn line:

Hearth-eyes. Left alone too long, my long bones

Curdle into shatter. The gloss works my lips

Into lather. I train a tongue to slaver

At the word meat. I cannot say how this means:

Invisible weaving, a safety net turned sideways

Into snare. The stocking's run pulls the eye

Elsewhere—warn, then worn, then wear. I trace

The shape to know. I keep want from want.

Silver of hammers, silver of scales. Then gold.

Source: In Kind (University of Iowa Press, 2023)