9 WAYS OF LOOKING

1)
someone thought it
another drew it before
the shuttle wove it

2)
light falls lighter
a wispy shadow
below the window

3)
never mind the quality;
feel the width

4)
when a petticoat showed
beneath a hem, Mother
would say, 'It's
snowing down south.'

5)
ten rosettes
to the square foot
in the yard

6)
breeze balloons
a pregnant lady in
her cheesecloth dress

7)
it is rigorous
and clanks across
its rows

cloth folds
rolled in
long cylinders

8)
trucks weave through
city traffic
to Textile Traders
where merchants
measure and despatch

9)
at the sight of
black lace on white breast
grown men and boys
quicken.

once, thirst gripped them;
now, hunger.