Cloth

It's red

the gauze that arrived today

fully nine yards

fifty-two inches wide

and very soft

since I needed

it to be in three yard cuts

for the three new loincloths

I will be wearing this summer

enough red cloth

to cover my butt

and the naughty bits

for the law

Man's oldest clothing

was probably some kind

of leather

upon which he or his woman

peed

to soften it enough

while stretching

the hide in every direction

on an old stump or branch

Now men just go

to a clothing store

to buy underwear and pants

complex constructions

worthy of a high dollar charge

with room for a profit

for everybody down the chain

This is just cloth

simple and comfortable

with the elastic band cut

from some worn-out underwear

and me

old enough to be considered

completely loony

to show so much fat

on a hot day

sitting on my little porch

trailing long flaps

front and back

glad I didn't have to skin

a buffalo or elk

damn that work is smelly

Barry G. Wick