Hello, Poetry Friend
It’s not always the first line of a poem that sticks with me, but in the case of Dave Malone’s “Spring Dress,” it is definitely that first line.
I love the unknown in you,
There’s a lot unknown in this poem. And yet even with that unknowingness, we still know the speaker is addressing a “you” wearing the Spring Dress of the title. We don’t know anything about the relationship between the speaker and the person in the dress. We don’t even know much about the dress.
I am currently wearing a spring dress I adore. I bought it resale, for $3, which makes me love it even more. It does not show “the shy backs of [my] knees” but it does make known my arms and some of my back. It does not make known my legs, their scars.
And then, like the person in the poem, my face is always known because it is seen. I have no “colony of dimples” but a “mouth” — yes, check. Does my face look different framed by this particular spring dress?
My favorite word in the poem is “unfair” in line 2. I picture it said with a wink by the speaker. Because it is unfair how it is those unguarded moments, when we are just living our boring lives, wearing a pair of old shorts and a T-shirt grabbed off the floor, that come to make us more known than we intended.
I wore my spring dress today because it is gosh-awful hot, 104 degrees, and I will be in and out of the car all day. What unknown part of me will be revealed from my choice to wear this spring dress? Will someone spy a “leaning” I do not want them to see?
Being this known? So unfair!
Poetry Journal
Read Malone’s poem. Jot down what you notice, what you like, what you don’t, what questions you have, and at least one way in which the poem speaks to you.
What are you wearing right now? Why did you choose it? What does it make known and what does it keep unknown?
Read the poem again, aloud (if you didn’t the first time). Is there anything you notice this time that you want to add to your journal?
Write your own poem about clothing—your own or noticing someone else’s. If you like, email me what you write. (My poem is at meganwillome.com.)
Happy Poeming!
Megan
Registration for In Your Own Words is open at meganwillome.com! Come join us and meet storms with words.