The Coat

“To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible.”
― Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Aphorisms

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“Nice coat”, says the stranger on the street.

“Thank you”, I reply

” I Love your coat”, says the barista, with a face-splitting smile

“Thank you”

“I love your jacket, who is it by?”

“Um…” I half utter, confused. “Forever 21”

This coat is not fur, but polyester

It was not expensive, but half off

There is something about this jacket

It attracts many daily compliments

However, it seems to disappoint its fans

By not being a designer brand, or expensive fur

I don’t like designer brands

I can’t afford them, don’t need them, and don’t want them

This city is full of minimal shop windows

Stuffed with little material, big price tags

I am baffled by the numbers

A thing, anything, costs big figures, only because of the name attached

And people want to wear them, carry that name

It represents … what? A higher degree of betterment?

Am I defined by the costumes that I wear

Or is it me that defines my wardrobe?

What defines the naked me

Stripped of all man-made objects?

The raw core of my existence lies in ambiguous thoughts

And in discoloured shreds of memory

I don’t know whether the compliments address spectacles of the coat

Or my virtuosity in picking this particular item of clothing

Perhaps I am only a mannequin

From 9-5 I sport “office” clothes

From May to August I portray a free spirit

Decorated in bright dresses

Many outfits and scene changes

And life will still find a way