The Reference Poems

NOTE: Poem titled Two Evening Dresses

first appears in my 677 page manuscript titled NO BONES ABOUT IT, written before the inception of this blog, prior to April 2012.  It is included here as reference for comparison to the following poem titled Two Dresses O’ mine

Two Evening Dresses

December 28th, 2009

The Shakespeare House

Shelburne, Nova Scotia

When I was 8 or 9

I went to Lord & Taylor’s

with My Mother & Granmama

to buy evening dresses

for My Mother’s Affair*

She chose a bubbling brown & gold chiffon

high-waisted

& a sleek black sleeveless

with silver accent trim

under the bust line

I was very happy for Her.

I never saw Those Dresses on My Mother —

They got put up in The Attic every summer

& after She died

The Black One fell apart

in a spray of black filaments

on the floor of Eliza’s bedroom closet

*the year-long affair w Bob Wilber,

jazz musician, who broke my mother’s heart twice when he got remarried to Joanne (Pug) Horton, seven years later.

Two Dresses O’ mine

July 19, 2025

The Hawk Deck

9:57 am

1 White (wedding)

1 Black (theatrical)

1 stored away in a basement garment bag

1 hanging in M(eye) Corner Room Closet

both costing originally $300.00 each —

The 1st: My off-white high-collared,

long-sleeved chiffon w/ floral hem

(hand-drawn prophetically in Jr. High)

worn for My Mother’s Show

2 Peter Lynn Haeghaert

38 years ago

stained now

w/ tiny brown specks

here & there

like The Baby’s Breath

I held

in The Wedding Portrait on M(eye) Fridge:

What Did That Wedding Mean 2 Me?

I do not remember eating The Cake

created by an artistic family of neighbours

in Jordan Bay —

I do not remember

feeling “Overwhelmed w/ Happiness” —

(perhaps I wasn’t)

I felt I was performing —

climbing into a rowboat

in “My Going Away” outfit

of green & white vertical striping

& red straw cap & pony tail —

married off 2 a capable gentleman

9 years My Senior —

2 be The Father

of M(eye) 2.4 Children —

Now 2 write of The Black Dress:

The Oprah Winfrey 50’s style —

full-skirted, elastic bodiced

3/4 sleeves

w/ silver buttons —

It was & is a dramatic dress

& Eye would wear It

dramatic upon The Tomato-coloured Couch

15 years ago

married 2 Dr Blair’s

ignorance…

These Two Dresses

are Opposites —

The 1st symbolizing

newness, freshness & innocence —

The 2nd symbolizing

daring, danger & mystery —

& Eye possess Both

Still —

right Gully?