Shirt

It used to drape over your shoulders

Like the cape

That helped you fly

From the top bunk

Where bears and seagulls lived

And good books lie

Open, with drool

On pages, read over and over

And over again

Arms were left with space to roam

Space to run

Space to hide

From all of things that made you

Run back inside

Like lighting or

Like after you put out the fire

And it’s too dark to

Find the steps

To get back inside

It’s collar

Shows bones

That make you self conscious

Cuz it’s a feature

Unknown to you

That in years

Will make people groan

When you’re tone

Of voice

Make them feel like boys

I was once,

a boy’s

Shirt, favorite shirt

Because it said

Something clever

About what he loved

Or reminded him of that glove

He picked up

From an all-dirt infield

Where he feels at home

Because the diamond

Is worth more than gold

One day the sleeves

Were too tattered

The design hardly

Recognized as a sign

Of a past time

Because of the passed time

But the passed time

Made it pass down

The line

Not because it was nice

But because it’s price

Was determined by who wore it

Not who made it

It used to fit

So perfect that you couldn’t

Leave for a couple nights

Without packing it

But now

It sits, in a closet

Covered by shirts that

Illustrate the fact

The time has passed

And you’re no longer fit

Those sleeves that used to

Make you think, that being large

Was what made you

A man

Now they just remind you

That you are

And there’s no going back

Now it might be

In the bottom of a dresser drawer

Or rung from a wire hanger

In a thrift store

Maybe cut, and sewn

And rearranged

In a blanket

That covers the people

Who recognize it

It doesn’t matter

Because all those

3 by 5s

Will prove

At one time

That it was you

Who wore it