strap strapping strapped

the hook at the end of the cable of the crane

rises. the strap tied to the hook stretches

and creaks. the cargo enwrapped in strapping

stirs and scrapes along the gravelly ground, then,

swinging into the air, is briefly silent as it

dangles aloft and slowly

spins.

..

a few seconds later and a dozen feet in the air

a flaw in the strap gives and stretches and snaps

and the cargo falls and crashes, wood-

box corner first, bursting the box, and the metal

inside clashes and screams,

ruining the delicate mechanisms,

destroying the precise arrays they described.

..

the crew chief swears,

the crane operator stares,

and the project manager slips into his office

to weep.