Singer, the thief, steals a dignity
as its needle eye blinks and moves
to fool the unsteady hand that attempts
to thread it.
The sway-back villain disrupts the
flow of colorful threads, tampers
with tension of the iron-latticed pedal,
forcing a frail foot into a press-halt pace.
This stitch robber stealthily unwinds:
her bobbins, her skills, her thoughts—
the Maker’s warrantee against theft
eluded us.