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?