By Lora Keller

Gallowed to metal
hangers shawled in tissue,
At the Dry Cleaner’s
oodles of men’s button-down shirts
striped and paisleyed
tremble with
starch and steam.

Draped on each
one, a lucent shroud

not quite water. Spreadsheets
ordain their owners’ P&L routines, but
today, they damn their

S-Corp, derivative,
cash flow ways. Today, they
account for nothing. They
ride this trolley with my
executive chambrays,

my spider satin, my
eyelash knit, my minx

merino, my chiffon
uh-oh. And on this wanton
carousel, I phantom
hoochie coo with them all.

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Lora Keller has been a scriptwriter, public relations executive, educator, and small business owner and now writes full-time. Her poems are published widely and have earned numerous awards. Is it a pink tulle or zebra satin day? That’s what drives Keller’s decisions on what to wear and drives her in-progress collection, What I Wore to the Mental Hospital. Lakeller.com