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Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Checking My Box of Almost Never

They're piled in an Amazon box of almost never-
(that is, all not-quite not-ever-
but sometimes twice- and most often a mere once-)
worn clothes destined for another,
bigger green metal box proclaiming itself
charitably fashioned for such donations
as these nearly pristine shirts,
jeans and sweaters that have only those holes
their makers intended but still lack the want
I've wasted for arms, legs and torso to fill them.

What they don't have is shabby stitches
or those counterfeit claims mocking
a public thread-lust for luxury labels,
but they are mild misfits of the well-meant
gift or of my poor-choice selection
and they carry an ill-suited look,
whether it's fleeced too loose and loud,
or flanneled too bold and blousy,
or otherwise woolly with any too fuzzy
je ne sais quoi that puts me off.

Too's had grown too many as if the clothes bred
while tucked in nice 'n cozy at backs of drawers
rarely drawn or stacked sleepy on the bottom
of a closet's clutter-topped shelf,
and if proved it would be a miracle
on par with Christ's gospel-touted cloning
of the loaves and fishes, but it's not,
so I can't compare my parlor-trick sharing
of two dozen hand-me-downs carelessly passed-on
to his magic of multitudinous feeding.

After all, the real comparison is,
I could have accomplished even more
than this speculative giving,
had I been retrospectively better
in my retroactive accounting
and made the significantly less sinful
omission of never (not just once or twice,
but actuarially quite not-ever)
accumulating so much always
not-needed, however tasteful, stuff.



Another new poetry site, another new prompt. This one comes from We Write Poems, and tasks us with writing about boxes. I wrote this while battling a head-cold, so if it's more of a ramble than usual I have the excuse of diminished concentration.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

live at a minimal level of clothes! wise to give away,
but why has ur smart pic disappeared from my blog? and again the priest has appeared!?!

Francis Scudellari said...

It's hard to keep the priest away. I just changed my Blogger profile pic, so you should see something different.

flaubert said...

Francis,
Best to give away what you don't use. I like what you did here.
Pamela

Robin said...

Very clever! Particularly liked the third stanza...and the idea of the clothes breeding.

brenda w said...

I find myself in a similar predicament. Often. Nice to know there are more of us....!

Paul Oakley said...

Francis,

I love the way you phrase this. So beautiful:

...almost never-
(that is, all not-quite not-ever-
but sometimes twice- and most often a mere once-)
worn clothes...


or

but still lack the want
I've wasted for arms, legs and torso to fill them


All the way through, thoroughly delightfully written. I love it as writing, but it is wonderful as thought and sentiment too!

Wayne Pitchko said...

nice one Francis....wow my shirts really are breeding in my closet...thanks for sharing this

Francis Scudellari said...

@Pamela I've simplified quite a lot, but I've still got some old things I can give away.

@Robin You never know what they're up to when we're not watching :)

@Brenda I think there's quite a few of us, but people are slowly catching on to needing less stuff.

@Paul Thanks... I'm glad the sentiment didn't get completely lost in the verbal onslaught.

@Wayne It's best to try to keep them separated, if at all possible :D

angie said...

love this, Francis!

(I have an amazon box --well, maybe four-- of almost never, too!)

Raven's Wing Poetry said...

Right off I noticed the alliteration in this piece, which gives it a fun quality. And that Amazon box made me smile...I have a few of those around. Nicely done.

-Nicole