Layers (Poetry)

If I saw you again
I know the garment of my life
would soon unravel...

those neat tight stitches
so awkwardly learnt
in the winter half-light

would slip themselves undone
in an instant all that yarn
wound back into a ball

the pattern left unfound
the needles in their case
and that urgent need to make

a coverall disguise
to last the seasons through
with a fixed attention to detail

all raw edges tucked inside
sure to show themselves and fray
go raggedy — reveal

the thinness of the weave
your words so scissor-sharp
bound to threaten every thread

and I’d be naked as that day
when shivering I watched
you snipping love’s dead layers
                                from your skin.