SHANTUNG TIME
How will we say we’re less vulnerable
Without being vulnerable? “Oh, we don’t
DO that anymore,” we’ll say, when someone shares
A little too much because all sharing
Has become oversharing, other than strategies
For getting stains out of the shantung
Pillow covers and the shantung pencil skirts
And the shantung drapes, because yes,
We are moving to a time of nubbly silk
And charmeuse and chiffon and brocade,
The 2050s, what we’re longing for,
Not there yet, but it’s coming,
A time when outside the gates there’s chaos
But inside the walls there’s harmony
And quietude and busy, humming bees,
All dearly bought and all we have to lose
To get there is our urge for authenticity.
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Marnie Bullock Dresser lives in Spring Green, Wisconsin with her husband and son and four cats in a house that, really, isn’t big enough for that many living creatures. She has taught at the tiniest University of Wisconsin campus for the longest time.
“Outside the gates…”. Powerful!