Black Instead of Brown

A textile testing room of a chemical company in Delaware at noon on a clear December day, bright white light from a tall window with frost on its panes, on a pale wooden table a thick cylindrical winding of silky gleaming white filament on a dark brown wooden core, loose frayed threads at its top, beside it one long sheer stocking laid flat, its leg dark slate grey to black and faintly translucent with fine lengthwise folds, welt, heel and toe in reddish brown, a dark seam down the back, a brass magnifying glass, two hands drawing its partner onto a smooth wooden leg form, every surface plain and unmarked.