Fabrication

We made her the usual way,
with spools and cocoons and a wisp
of frayed thread. That business

about the woof took time.
We spun her up and wondered

whose side is she on, anyway?
Whose eyes and the slouch
of whose shoulders? We loomed

over her day and night, sometimes
offering the wrong thing.

We gave her a name,
a counterpane and a slap,
sang songs about a larva

that were both kind and true.
She wriggled right out

of the swaddling as soon as
we got the story going.