This poem (included in the anthology Whispers, Shouts, and Songs) went through many iterations. Basically, it’s a poem about a desire to don a cloak of invisibility–but not in the super hero way. The poem wonders what that would feel like, concluding that it would feel comfortable, breathable–like wearing cotton as opposed to something like wool. It reflects a yearning to shed the bonds of conformity, forgo the safety of the familiar, and embrace the freedom of living without society’s constraints.
Cotton Nothing
Hidden deep in the dark recesses of my closet,
Past the Well-worn, the Familiar,
Past the Curtain of Conformity,
Tucked into a barely visible corner,
Hangs Nothing.
I ponder it:
Should I slip into Nothing, and
Drape myself in the fabric of Invisibility?
Would it feel cool and smooth like Satin?
Soft like Cashmere?
Rough like Wool?
Perhaps.
But I think it wears more like Cotton, naturally, letting me breathe,
And will try it on for size.
Wider than the Sky 