Growing up, I propose,
is like wearing a dead man’s clothes.
Death has a way of levelling the ground.
I have found the closer your relationship
the closer the fit;
the unsettling bit is the fear
of not fitting the role, or where
your forbear made a name or leashed
a reputation, which by imputation
of the clothes is yours as a crown, to wear
or not to wear, to possess or disown; whereas
I was first bequeathed a pair of shorts, a T shirt
and some thongs, items which rightly belonged
both to the man who was and the man to be,
though I had worn his suit before I reached
his height, and though I might pretend I was,
I never was that man despite the formal suit.
Today I use a woollen fishing jersey from
a man I hold in huge regard but sadly
now departed, a man whose friendship
touched my heart and with the most humble
respect I know
I gladly wear his clothes.
© I.D. Carswell
is like wearing a dead man’s clothes.
Death has a way of levelling the ground.
I have found the closer your relationship
the closer the fit;
the unsettling bit is the fear
of not fitting the role, or where
your forbear made a name or leashed
a reputation, which by imputation
of the clothes is yours as a crown, to wear
or not to wear, to possess or disown; whereas
I was first bequeathed a pair of shorts, a T shirt
and some thongs, items which rightly belonged
both to the man who was and the man to be,
though I had worn his suit before I reached
his height, and though I might pretend I was,
I never was that man despite the formal suit.
Today I use a woollen fishing jersey from
a man I hold in huge regard but sadly
now departed, a man whose friendship
touched my heart and with the most humble
respect I know
I gladly wear his clothes.
© I.D. Carswell
why did u write the poem?
ReplyDeletewhy did u write this poem???
ReplyDeleteI wrote the poem after the death of my friend Ronald Wong, whose fishing jersey I occasionally wear. In the first part of the poem I refer to clothes I inherited after the death of my father - many years previously - which I felt unable to put to any use. I had to grow up a whole lot more after my father's death than I realised. When I wear Ron's jersey I also comfortably wear my father's clothes these days.
ReplyDeletehello,
ReplyDeletewhat devices did you use in this poem?
That is a good question! Enjambments (or run-on lines) and interior rhyming are two of the structural devices, but otherwise it is purely metaphoric. The idea is that clothes make the man if the man is willing, and able, to wear the clothes...
ReplyDelete