Loose Thread

This cheap coat, my uniform

against the world, came undone.

A button, just a tiny one,

dangling by a single string.

Red, cheap polyester.

I caught it on the sleeve

of my other, equally cheap, sweater

and pulled, just a little.

Too far. It ripped clean off.

No needle, no thread, not even

a safety pin in this whole sad place.

Just the tiny crater where it lived.

Another thing to hold with my hand.

Another small gap

to let the cold in.