THE SOUL OF A POET IN THE HEM OF A GARMENT
THE SOUL OF A POET IN THE HEM OF A GARMENT
Clothing has power---to protect from the elements, to comfort, to inspire, to ennoble. Clothing can also debase, dismay and dehumanize to destruction. Aside from the basic need to protect from the cold or heat or to be dignified, clothing has a potent presence for help or hurt.
I have a life-long love of all things fabric, garments and style. I see the seductress woven into so much of women's clothing, even for little girls. Little ones are sometimes provocative and precocious, not understanding fully yet the presence of clothing. Wise Moms and Dads can steer them to pretty clothing that also does not present disrespectfully.
I am the opposite of an exhibitionist. In clothing, I do well in the hidden, the subdued, the humbly mysterious, the impenetrable, the inscrutable. Showing off repels me, I would rather politely study the world about me as an honorable observer, a poetic soul. I do not like being on display. Display seems to be the core template of so much women's clothing, showing off this or that, as if display was a commandment, that display is your " value." Drawing people's gaze seems to be required.
Poets run deep, sometimes like the thundering cataract, sometimes like the babbling brook. Although as a writer, I do not formally write poetry, I resonate with the depth of vision and complexity of a poetic soul, seeing as a sensitive person the beauty in ordinary things or the natural realm. This includes the beauty of clothing of all kinds, one of my life-long loves.
The yelling manner of modern Western culture, the barbarian runs full-tilt both on visual media and the written word. Instant gratification roars and imperiously commands a rampant mess and I think a lot of us “poetic types” would prefer to remain in our caves and hidden corners, in opposition to the blaring and swearing.
Garments are my hiding place. Coats, jackets, cardigans, capes, sweaters, what glorious masters of comforting places for the soul!
In my past, when I spent 31 years living in San Francisco and Bay Area, to 2016, (no longer there) as a person of very modest financial means, I found much inspiration from scraps of fabric, tiny pieces of beauty that I could fit in a pocket. I could see the color, feel the texture soothing my fingertips and see the poetic beauty of woven threads. With the chaos of modern USA in 2023, keeping the basics afloat is a hard-fought battle for millions of us and for myself, instead of seeking solace in drugs or alcohol or sex as I used to do, I remain a "poet in the hem of a garment." I resonate with the hidden, the modest, the subtle, the hiding in plain view, the unspoken words of encouragement, as "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and the weak things of the world to put to shame the mighty" from First Corinthians 1:27, one of my life verses. This gives me life and hope.
Garments can contain much hope and help. We as women can set down the demands of darkness and simply say a quiet "no" to being a seductress and take our blessed place as God's givers of life. Whether we are a Mother or not ( I never was), we can gently pour cooling waters on the overwrought fires of lust that seem to sweep our culture. "Seduce" your husband alone, not the world!
1-30-2023. Wendy Williams