Wednesday, January 21, 2015

On Attire

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My sense of fashion has been, at best, mixed,
jeans and wolf t-shirts, running shoes, frizzy hair.
Looks I admire tend to the wild side:
dreads, long gray pony tails and beards on men, 
on aging women that certain look that sets us apart 
from the sweater-set crowd with their blue tidy hair:
kinda hippy and free, unconventional,
still Being Who We Are.
As we pass, we exchange smiles,
and toss our manes.

I met an old hippy over in Coombs.
We recognized each other by our hair,
both long and frizzy. He told me
in Haight-Ashbury, back in the day,
he wore Puss In Boots leather boots, 
with buckles, right up to his thighs.
Those were the good old days.

I so admired them, back then,
those paisley/patchouli hippies on Fourth Avenue,
so serenely living outside all the rules,
while I lived my cramped, married-woman existence
just one block down. 
But soon enough, I was free,
chewed my leg off to escape the trap,
bought my first pair of jeans,
grew my hair long,
began to live.

My running shoes carried me far,
through ten years in Tofino,
among other refugees from the 60's,
heart and hair equally wild,
completely whole,
drenched in joy and sea-spray.

Now I consort with trees, wolves,  
druids and dying things.
I drape myself in old man's beard,
wear moss slippers and clothing made of bark.
As Old Woman of the Woods, I come into my own,
talk to owls and decorate my hair 
only with feathers.


For Susan's prompt at Mid Week Motif: Fashion
I poached the old hippy in Coombs from a much earlier poem. He still looks way cool!


22 comments:

  1. Our clothes are so much part of who we are and how we have reached this point. I enjoyed the 'historical' perspective on the 60s attire.

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  2. As we pass, we exchange smiles,
    and toss our manes."
    RRoarrr.
    Except my hair isn't frizzy, just baby fine as always.
    Love the saga here, and favor the last stanza that has so much of the woods in it!

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  3. I really enjoyed the vision of two like souls passing one another and recognizing their rebelliousness by the way they are dressed. Smiling to know they are free from the constraints that others so easily tie themselves to. I really enjoyed reading this Sherry as I have always when I read your work. Thank you for sharing.

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  4. I love the way you embrace your truth, your identity. Shameless and bold!

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  5. You've definitely got a unique set of attire for certain.

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  6. moss slippers and clothing made of bark...ha...i might try the moss slippers...its kinda cool the little touches lives make along the way...i wonder if i could get away with those boots and sword belt...ha

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  7. Sherry you haven't changed much - you rebel you!

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  8. I LOVE your closing and your descriptions throughout and the way that the two of you recognized each other by your hair!! Yes...be who we are...that's a great moral. ♥

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  9. I think running shoes are always in fashion. And there is something very cool about being an old hippie. Smiles.

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  10. I love that you are so comfortable with who you are that you just let yourself be - grow your hair, allow nature to commune with your spirit, & just be a wild woman, smiles ~

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  11. Oh, but you have lived and laughed and found the world an amazing place.

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  12. i can feel like this is a continuation of your poem about neighbors. best fashion is being comfortable. :-)

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  13. I absolutely love that last stanza. Not to say I didn't like it all. Beautiful.

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  14. So very green man in its way. Great poem.

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  15. All of us who "came of age" in that time, can really relate to this. My hair is long and staying that way. I hope to have a silver braid some day, and long hippie dresses.

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  16. Good for you ...wearing what you like and feel comfortable with is important. So I take it you are not into Steam punk fashion then:)

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  17. I love this journey… donning the attire that suits you right where you are in your life as it continues to change. Thank you dear Sherry for you kind words on my blog, for staying in touch.

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  18. I love the sense of belonging our choice of clothes (and attitudes) brings...i suppose it's almost tribal...and fun when chosen wisely!

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  19. Hilarious - love the freedom of expression that wearing what makes you YOU brings - great write, my friend

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  20. Oh those slippers when we are finally free.. I admire the sense of freedom you can have.. But myself I'm still a kind of snob I guess.

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