by Marilyn Annucci

To Velcro: Two Sides

1.

Friend of the arthritic,
athletic, prosthetic:

the ease with which
you insinuate yourself

is startling.
How you appear

on toilet covers
wall hangings

wrist watches
the cuffs of sweats

padded notebooks.
How did we manage

our hurry without you?
Scrubby paw

in manic hands.
Sweet relief

of press and rip.
Not like the noiseless, green

ABCs we pressed
to school boards as children

but the band aids
we tore from our knees.

What did we care of beauty then?
Give us safety

again, give us pockets
hatched down for lunch money.

2.

Foe of silk,
wool and linen,

you have caught
my scarf in your scrubby paws

for the last time.
Cheap impersonator

of the burr.
Don’t even speak

of the children’s shoes.
It was hard to tie a bow

and hard was good.
Harbinger of sloth,

what more can we lose?
Churches know

you are louder than prayer.
Passion interruptus—

even underwear
may unfasten

like scratching on a screen.
Who will Velcro

the sun to the night,
the bull to its rider,

the roof to this house?
Go away.

Let me relish the quiet
unbuttoning of my blouse.


-appeared in Prairie Schooner (Fall 2007)