Woven

My family sold towels
with flat-weave trims,

rough scrubbers built in.
The border seam,

a tool for clearing a stye
or toothpick in a pinch.

Don’t leave
your towels alone,

draped on mildew glass.
Don’t weaponize

them in a locker room.
The towel smothers blood

without question.
The towel weeps

for each of us,
alone in a bucket.

*

Brett Stuckel’s writing has appeared in Wordgathering, Electric Literature, Hobart, Split Lip Magazine, and elsewhere. He lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and is online at www.brettstuckel.com.