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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


WHAT IF? by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS

First Line: WHAT IF WE HADN'T WOMEN'S CLOTHES TO LAUGH AT?
Last Line: ABSURD, DIVINE, KALEIDOSCOPIC WOMAN!
Subject(s): CLOTHING & DRESS; WOMEN;

What if we hadn't women's clothes to laugh at?
What if the ladies all wore coats and derbies,
And all wore trousers of the self-same pattern,
And sheet-iron shirts and collars coldly formal,
And looked all just alike, the way we men do?

What if? It wouldn't be an hour, a minute,
Before the women would do something to them,
Poke in the derby, give the shirt a ruffle,
Discover new alignments for the collar,
Invert the trousers and create them graceful!

Because, you know, it's not with clothes we're dealing,
Not fashion-plates nor fabrics nor cosmetics,
But, back of all, and just the same without them,
Mysterious, adorable, perplexing,
Absurd, divine, kaleidoscopic Woman!



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