No matter what anyone says,
no matter how something appears,
how someone presents themselves
matters more than people might want to admit…
even when we are young,
we all have a certain image within our mind
of how we see ourselves
and how we may want others to see us…
some people dress in a certain way
because they want to emulate the appearance
and the fashion of someone whom they might revere and idolise…
we all have our favourite clothes
that, when we wear them, give us
a feeling of comfort, confidence,
and some people take a great deal of time
and pride in selecting what they are going to wear…
some people equate a particular outfit
to a suit of armour that a medieval knight
might have worn to protect themselves -
and although the attire that modern people,
as well as soldiers, wear today
may not be as encompassing,
nor as metallic, from head to toe,
the “armour” of a suit and tie,
or the colours and badges of a uniform,
can give someone that much needed
faith in their own abilities to be able
to do what they must…
what someone wears can affect
how someone acts…
what someone wears can affect
how someone speaks
and how someone is heard…
what someone wears can affect
the perception of people;
however, appearances can be,
and generally are, deceptive,
and should be treated as only
as the surface level of something,
as well as someone -
because everything and everyone
is more than how they portray themselves to be,
and most people are more than how they appear to others,
and for some people that is
how they get through life,
that is how they protect themselves
from all that is going on around them,
and that is how they have learned
to become a part of the society
that they find themselves within…
sometimes some people choose things deliberately,
and sometimes some people choose things
without knowing why they feel drawn to them -
because some things feel obligatory,
while some things just feel natural;
and what someone wears can be a good indicator
of how someone feels about themselves,
or how they want other people to feel about them,
and then there are those who
just wear what works best for them,
and when they see themselves in a mirror
they say to themselves that no matter
where they are and who they are with
how they want to be seen is,
for better or for worse, just their look.
fashion
My Poem “Appropriate Footwear”
You never know when you are
going to need certain things –
things that you may only think about,
look for, or even use at a particular
time or within a particular season of the year…
you never know when you are
going to need or when you are going
to want to wear a particular piece
of clothing that you like, for example,
because the design that it advertises
shows that you have a profound interest
in something or in someone for some reason…
you never know when you are
going to need a particular pair of shoes –
be they sneakers, boots, or something
that look comfortable enough to wear
around the house when you don’t need to go out…
you never know when you are
going to be presented with an easy
or a difficult dilemma based upon the weather –
such as a heavy deluge of snow,
a downpour of rain that has created
a brand new river outside of your front-door,
or perhaps you may ffereyind yourself poolside somewhere
or on holiday near a sandy beach –
and you have to decide what your current situation calls for:
Smart? Casual? Flip-flops?
Wellington boots? Or Barefoot?
That is why it is always important to consider
what you are doing and where –
because you might have to wonder
whether you are wearing the most
appropriate of footwear.
My Poem “Cap It Off”
For centuries
all types of headwear
has been worn in order
to display and to demonstrate
a particular way of life,
or a belief system
that certain people subscribe to:
big hats, small hats, tall hats,
short hats – and certain hats,
over time, were worn to signify
and to advertise the social standing
that a person had in a society…
in the United Kingdom, for example,
the vast majority of the members
of the aristocracy wore black hats
that towered above them –
while those who lived their lives
and made a living through hard labour,
long hours, and for the minimum of wages
often were observed wearing flat-caps
of different woven threads of material
and designs of fabric,
and some could often be wearing hats
with hidden surprises just waiting
to be revealed from underneath their peaks.
Hats have also been worn
as somewhat of a fashion statement,
and for some people hats are
a vital staple of a person’s identity
and they personify who they are –
take a Stetson, for example:
because who would a cowboy be
without their cowboy hat?
And who would “The Great Detective”
Sherlock Holmes be if he never wore
his characteristic Deerstalker?
Hats, caps, headwear as a whole –
be it symbolic, religious,
logo embossed, or just plain –
have never been more popular
nor more worn by every facet
of human society,
in every country on Earth,
and I see no end in sight
for the practice of wearing a hat:
because for a great many people
hats are how people “put a cap on”
a particular look that they like
in order to preserve a tradition
that could just as easily be
relegated to being a thing of the past.
My Poem ‘Forget Me Not’
One season is winding-down,
another season is rising…
one season is out-staying its welcome,
another is fast-approaching…
as always, there is a transition taking place…
there is a change of colour in nature’s palette,
and a different air of feeling on nature’s face…
the planet is turning, the world is changing…
everybody is slowly preparing for what is to come,
and there will soon be an end to all the waiting
when nature starts calling for us all
to live for the moment that we find ourselves in…
soon the flowers of Summer will rise, bloom, and shine –
and like each and every one of us
lift up their heads towards the bright energy
of the sun’s intense light.
There are a great many things that are seasonal
and are only seen when the time is right…
during the winter, people wear blacks, whites,
dark-browns, and shades of grey…
when it is spring, greens, blues, yellows,
and reds start to recur and be seen
in many choices of fashion –
perhaps they can be noticed more
because the nights start to become short
and there are now more hours of daylight?
During the summer, it is like
there is a festival of colour going on
all over the world –
from San Francisco to London,
and from France to Australia:
vibrant, energizing, mesmerizing,
and breathtaking colours that keep people
feeling good and smiling…
and when autumn reveals itself,
there are wonderful tones, echoes,
and signatures of warm browns, orange,
and copper everywhere you look –
on the leaves of the trees,
in the colour of the coats that people wear,
and even the air has an ambiance,
an accent, a smell, a fall-fullness,
and a feeling that you can only find and feel
in the autumn months in which
the celebrations of Halloween,
Guy Fawkes Night in the UK,
Thanksgiving in the US takes place…
and when forget-me-not flowers grow
and show their memorable colour-combination
of yellow and blue.
Everybody has their favourite season
and their favourite time of the year…
everybody longs to revisit memorable experiences
that they have lived…
everybody knows that when the time is right
certain things that we want to do
we will just do, because they feel right…
everybody is familiar with the many faces
of our beautiful and constantly changing planet,
and when the touch of the season that we love so much
touches our skin, and overwhelms our senses –
that is when we all enjoy
and we make the most of
every moment that we would
find so hard to ever forget.
Mark The Poet 