slipper

slipper

it was wound
with linen bound
to burlap blouse and skirt. 
put back from things
that cut and crack.

one night’s bookends
bundled up above.

once or twice a year
she mounted floors
and opened doors,

laid careful
strips of oldened cloth
on stretched-dress lap,

first toe, then vamp
and heel unwrapped.

once or twice a year
she mounted floors
and opened doors,
slipped slipper
in between
herself and time,

and wandered young
where mice slept under eaves.