The Clothes on Your Back

 

Clothing can be very evocative — your mother’s gloves, a lover’s shoe, your father’s coat. Textures, smells, colors, and baggage. My father once threw a shoe at me — I can still see it flying, in slow motion, toward me. Clothes mark us as rich or poor, as someone (especially in high school) who fits in or who is “out of it.” Some clothes have pockets that can hold even more baggage — tobacco, coins, seeds you meant to plant but never did. I’ve had clothing made for me, stolen from me, clothing I’ve simply lost. I’ve had dreams about items of clothing.

Take a few minutes and list pieces of clothing that come up for you.

Now pick one of these pieces of clothing from your list, one that has a lot of heat around it, and write your poem.