Poem in Praise of Perfect Pants
….—Inspected by No. 9
…. In case of defect, return
…. this tag with garment.
Number 9,
I found your tag in the pocket.
The pants fit, in fact
not altogether your doing
since I have since readjusted
my own inches.
Still, at the other end
of whatever belt loop,
I imagine you—
a woman, a wife,
someone’s mother,
with too many kinds of inspections
to make already. Someone else
will have to be grateful for those.
But I thank you
for these perfect pants.
I will keep the tag as a charm
against all future irregulars
which may have been inspected
and sent away
without love.
That, of course, is the only
unredeemable defect.
by John Stone
from In All This Rain
Louisiana State University Press, 1980