How will we say we’re less vulnerable
Without being vulnerable? “Oh, we don’t
DO that anymore,” we’ll say, when someone shares
A little too much because all sharing
Has become oversharing, other than strategies
For getting stains out of the shantung
Pillow covers and the shantung pencil skirts
And the shantung drapes, because yes,
We are moving to a time of nubbly silk
And charmeuse and chiffon and brocade,
The 2050s, what we’re longing for,
Not there yet, but it’s coming,
A time when outside the gates there’s chaos
But inside the walls there’s harmony
And quietude and busy, humming bees,
All dearly bought and all we have to lose
To get there is our urge for authenticity.
______
“Dräktjacka” by Mölndals stadsmuseum is licensed under CC BY 4.0
This poem has been published in the fantastic journal One Art: a journal of poetry https://oneartpoetry.com/2022/01/05/shantung-time-by-marnie-bullock-dresser/ . Check it out there & check out all the other work there–I enjoyed all the work published with my poem here for January: https://oneartpoetry.com/2022/01/ especially the short poem by Nicole Caruso Garcia (I always think short poems are so brave! and this one’s funny, too)
marniere 