Thomas Kretz
Give it a thought
Thin as a sheet in breeze
cute enough with breasts
not strong enough to bend
white starch in blue uniform
with hips on hunger strike.
Some secondary occupation
through each octave of hours
humming just loud enough
to be heard in crab snatches
fading in or fading out like
preconceived event of sport
on a shortwave frequency
with game progress negative
not that her voice too hard
contrariwise hard to resist
with forces of boring work
turning oak of desk to teak
but a humming of profound
anger unmitigated by ways
needs and means struggle
as woman mops and wrings
making curt way for clients
mostly male demanding bows
because she refuses to come
before or rinse afterwards.
Once received volumed glare
for joining in while awaiting
the elevator and descending
I wondered her down to hum
in a shower before brass bed.
Page(s) 89
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