By Poet "Great memories are the best kind to have but some memories bring a waterfall of tears."
all little girls like to play dress up
mom had great hats, bags and pearls
her pretty white pearl necklace was long
around my neck
hitting my knees
her floppy hats were very colorful
the big red one almost covered my face
bringing out my pink rose blush tiny cheeks
I loved her big colorful bags
some with straps some with metal chains
playing for hours made me all grown up
at the time I did not know value
of this costume pretty white pearl necklace
a few dollars when new
years later I found them
new she only paid a few dollars
now all these years later I found them
where she left them sitting in an old box
the precious jewels I played with for hours
now with meaning more than if they were real pearls
I am simple yet complex in my simplicity;
I have many masks and facets,
and will wear a multitude of hats.
I show the me I need you to see,
you'll never know the whole of me.
I am the person I want you to see
and am only satisfied if you're baffled
by the multiplicity of me.
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Submitted on July 24, 2025 for contest MULTIPLICITY OF THE SELF sponsored by ALICE REYNOLDS
If
I eat
today’s feast,
it will be brimmed
With tastes of daring
flavors inside for sure,
spicy with a pinch of shame.
But truth be told, the bite is good,
teaches me to keep my opinions
Cause I have eaten a few hats in life.
Throughout the years, my kids had
A variety of hats,
Along with all the books and dolls
And games and baseball bats.
A few were parts of costumes
Or vacation souvenirs,
While others served as props
For princesses or buccaneers.
Though most have long been cast away,
Some managed to hang on –
The pirate and top hats are here;
The cowboy hats are gone.
Yet still, I felt a little pang
When throwing out the trash
And there, with all the magazines
Was something from the stash.
A plastic Viking headpiece
With, on either side, a horn.
I have a photo of my son
From when that hat was worn.
It served its purpose and is now
Bashed up and way too small.
Though I felt sad to throw it out,
My son won’t care at all.
Today a tribute to women…to women everywhere
A simple acknowledgment of all the hats you wear…
And men…if you hadn’t thought of this before…
A little something to make you think:
A mother, a secretary, a teacher
a chauffeur, a maid, a counselor
a cook and a cleaner walk into a bar….
And then she sits down and orders a drink.
He rode a horse he got thrown off
Onto the ground his head hit first
In a pile of manure horses pie
On top of his head he lie
Looked like a derby hat yah!
Getty-ap
Laddie look like a hat he wore
But it was just a pile of manure
She was a fair black lady
At the hair dresser
The weather man say yesterday
It’s gonna be sunny and bright
Yet, when the young lady left out the hair dresser
It thundered and began to rain
Uncovered her hair got wet frizzled and fuff-up
She looked like a cotton ball, now all wet she wore a afro
Lasses look like she wearin a British hat
2/14/24
For Put Yer Funny Hats On Laddies (Lasses Too) Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Tom Woody
Heads insulation
many colors worn
everyone has a favorite
My freshman reading list is
Thomas Payne, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky
The prof is not one to pitschky-potschky
The leaders to be studied will be
Elijah Muhammed, Stalin, Castro, Marx, and Xi
I wonder why A.H. is an absentee
O, I get it -- Good things come in fives
USA, Russia, China, Cuba and Syria
Nazi Germany too busy taking lives
Looking forward to an action-packed semester
in this new course called ~
'Proud Traditions of our Ancestors'
What can I say but hats off to you
The top of mine to the tip of my shoe
A tap of a cane with twist of a wrist
On a roll as you stroll to top of the list
A nod of the brim and knot of your tie
Adjusted in coy with shadowed right eye
Toe pointed down to rap on the ground
Clickety clack and tappety sound
A twirl followed swirl tweak of a curl
Harmonies afloat resounding in plural
Red velvet swung away in a swoosh
Whisk onto stage in a whistle and whoosh
Toe tapping cane cracking swiveling moves
Cap tipping feet flipping clapping approves
Set the stage with your ways and away we go
Flaunting this jaunty cascade of a show
Imploring a roaring of standing to say
Hats off to you and enjoy the bouquet
my attempt at a simplistic limerick suite
thank you
"cats and hats"
I once went to the beach with hats
and noticed in the back seat were my cats
I couldn't leave them in the car
so we ended up sitting at the bar
later I placed them on cool mats
we stayed until the sun went down
in between they managed to be a clown
they nestled and played with my hats
in style as true diplomats
now for all it was a showdown
as our day was nearing end
we were happy and could not pretend
my cats were never alone
my love and patience had grown
but now my hats I need to mend
SkyWatcher
06-17-23
How many hats does she wear in all? I asked.
The leopard rolled over, his body happily sun-basked.
Did you count the hats? I asked the tiger lily.
She giggled at me, making me feel a tiny bit silly.
How many hats in all? I asked the python.
He said don’t really know, but let’s try on one.
So, saying, he flipped one upside down on his head.
I got away fast, for he looked like he had not recently been fed.
They scar and mar the alma mater of the altar/
We’re hard on bars as we rock it and lift off far and soar sure of our space car/
They’ll never run us flat too solid for that /
Matter of fact we hear ‘em like a fawn’s blat after we snapped with sass and packed brass/
More chatter they chit chat the madder the hats/
Were out here spit for spat aghast at the sadder cast/
Thinking their blabber lasts they flash and lambaste/
Then lay waste and deface their two faced ace/
Glazed flakes with play fakes stake out to take from an honorary mate/
Years they’d wait after my best mates tragic fate/
A frayed tactic that’d leave my Dad, my hero dismayed /
Worked many days, played and paid to have it the way it was made for our stay/
Irked by the flirts of dark days lured by stark strays
Squirrel and birds with ridiculously wild hats
I am twisting in joy as I see your adornments phats!
You are rocking it at this old lady’s tearoom so pretty.
I am sure your conversations are incredibly witty.
I don't want silver, I don't want gold,
Not even a guitar if truth be told
And with all I own I would gladly part
If I could be a thread in a sweater by your heart
The emerging of wizards and ghosts
On a night of deep and frightening darkness
Children dressed in special costumes,hats and masks
With a Jack-o'-lantern in hands
Hoping to frighten the evil spirits away
Things with bad omens like black cats, bats and spiders
Are completely avoided
The number of 13 is also discarded
With the coincidence of Halloween
We may also drive away the ghosts in our hearts
Drive away the greed, jealousy and cowardness
Long embedded in our hearts
So that a place is forever reserved
For our Almighty God
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