BELT

Yes, I was also alive in the time

Of the tightening belt

And when I woke just now

To a blinding dark

In a sweat

Having just stepped over

My brother Sam

Not moving on that stairwell,

The strap-end clamped in his jaw, way  

beyond  notes of  

the leather noose 

Slicing into his wrist

I recalled. No more- I saw, and I understood

Just how tight

Things could get.

Goodbye my long  ago brother.

Goodbye stairwell and strap.

Farewell. Shoo- shoo.

Hello.