Buttons

Click on the Submit button.

*

Button up.
Leave the top button unbuttoned.
Never button the bottom button.

*

He has his finger on the button.
The red button.

*
She hit the return right on the button.

*

If you could just, if you could just
unbutton it a little bit and oh
a little bit more.

*

Yes, right there. That's
it right there. Oh. Oh yes.

*

I never thought I'd miss
the metal buttons on Levi
jeans. I don't. Except now
that I made myself think
of them, I do. I see myself
buttoning up. The first
button down there, not easy.
And if a woman were
to unbutton those jeans
buttons, well . . . .

*

Under the trees, yes,
the button mushrooms arose
like blobs of ghostly paint.

*

Many dolls and sociopaths
have buttons for eyes.

*

For some reason, as she waited
for the bus, she thought
of all the lost buttons
in the world, sinking
into soil or stuck
in cracks of pavement,
wood, and concrete.

*

The extra buttons
sewn on a garment wait
like tiny moons in reserve
for a sky that might need them.

*

When I am invited
to unbutton a woman's blouse
or dress, I feel like a primate,
and I wait for the inevitable
giggle. Eventually, we get there.

Buttons

Click on the Submit button.
Button up.
Leave the top button unbuttoned.
Never button the bottom button.
He has his finger on the button.
If you could just, if you could just
unbutton it a little bit and oh
a little bit more.
Under the trees, yes,
the button mushrooms arose
like blobs of ghostly paint.
Some dolls and sociopaths
have buttons for eyes.
For some reason, as she waited
for the bus, she thought
of all the lost buttons
in the world, sinking
into soil or stuck
in cracks of pavement,
wood, and concrete.
The extra buttons
on a garment wait
like tiny moons in reserve
for a sky that might need them.



hans ostrom 2014