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ECONOMICS: 1299-1666

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

I.

I saw the usurer crushed by a falling statue
as he entered a church to be married.

I can think only of his body, broken by marble,
but there are schoolboys in Europe who take the time
to recognize the need for good bookkeeping.

I speak the words from Araby:

            divan,
            syrup,
            tariffs
            artichoke,
            spinach,
            jar

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II.

I am troubled,
troubled by levies.

It is unnerving:

            the 112 different measures of length,
            the 92 square measures,
            the 80 for pound weights.

I am troubled by the patchwork,
the crazed quilt of small scattered holdings.

I will lose myself in the whipping,
braiding, and mutilation of sheep to wool.

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III.

I am afraid of the tearing away of tradition.
It is not me, but the sheep that cause mischief.

The new way of life will grow inside the old,
a chrysalis.

Your love will unravel
like the wick from
a beeswax candle.

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IV.

It is false to seek riches for riches sake.
I loved enough to draw up articles:
no indecent language,
no card playing, no keeping of hunting dogs.
I kept avarice as a sin.

I read the initiatives in the weaving industry,
the 1408 threads that must be in all fabrics.
My objectionable cloth I pilloried.
I was only accused thrice.

I am uncomfortable with the unschooled
who do not understand the wage,
who do not worry about
breaking the spine of a book.

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V.

I tire of reverence for the wonderworkshop.

There will never be any buttons on my body.

My tea is brewed
and my boiled egg is peeled.

I do not desire forbidden calico wares.

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ALISON STRUB lives in Arlington, VA, with her dog, Titus. She received her MFA from George Mason University in 2011 and spends her 9-5 weekdays masterminding internet marketing. Please Google her to read more of her poems.

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