Clothes

 

[Clothes]

 

slipping into them

drawing their cords and belts

the business with buttons

 

standing up in them

caress lasting hours

stresses tuck and trim vim

 

stepping out in them

hues unforgettable forgotten

the body in question beneath

 

stopping to check them

the sag that should be straight

the drab that should be gay

 

forgetting about them

any uniform in a storm

fashion is a fig-leaf

 

paying for more of them

shopping therapy spare-pairing

or bare necessity

 

judging by appearances

that alarming tee-shirt

that oh-so overgrown overcoat

 

attending to mishaps

the fleck of ketchup

rain-soaked to the bone

 

change as good as a holiday

this goes with that

a statement sewn with questions

 

or then haven’t a thing to wear

brain like a loose thread

all out of sorts with clothes

 

they stop and stare

take wear and tear

threadbare then oh not there

 

they ghost real selves

motion pictures of

the living breathing being

 

they attract message bluff blend

anonymity in label and design

they warm and warn

 

clothes they are a vain excuse

learnt behaviour

they cool and school

 

slipping them off

statements and questions left

in a heap crumpled suggestions

 

dropping them in the wash

there’s one in every crowd

a holy shroud

 

sleeping surrounded by them

dreams where they cannot hide

and lovers cast them aside