Scotch plaid Christmas girl made her bed the best she could
She smoothed down the covers as an astronaut would
Though she was not in the armed forces, she straightened her room
Then she took a video of it all and called a meeting on Zoom.
She showed off her plaids to the family, especially her mother
No one was as impressed as her messy, slovenly big older brother
Come to Omaha and straighten me out too, he begged his Sis.
Knowing his hoarder ways, she said she had to go to Old Miss
I have no idea why they call me plaid girl the urchin said.
She was wearing a plaid dress in blues, yellows and red.
Her plaid scarf and hat you could see all the way down the hall
on her red and green hat was a fuzzy red yarn ball.
On her feet were boots also stamped in big bold plaid.
I think I can guess why said my observant brother, Tad.
The proud lad's dad dressed in plaid.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
blue plaid flannel shirts
Illinois and iowa
winter uniform
plaid, paisley or polka dot?
patterned or plain taking a spot?
puffy pillows provided by Pat
Printed with purple dogs and one cat
A Scotsman going by Archie McFlip
did a stumble, a fall, and a trip
he started to sing
and to do the fling
even though he had broken his hip
He said he was bringing her plaid flowers today.
Pandas exaggerate, right? I said to Aunt Fay.
Not this one, he is pretty level-headed and true.
Okay, I said but plaid flowers make sense to you?
I am just saying he has been totally honest, she said.
He comes over every morning at six to be fed.
Why don’t you stick around and you can see for yourself.
Panda walked in that moment and put plaid flowers on the shelf.
Where did you get those? I asked him, with enormous eyes.
Down at the Chinese market, he said. “No big surprise.”
They have everything down there. Give me a request if you want.
I liked him immediately, but went with him to market so I too could hunt.
He dreams in electric themes
draping around the armchairs
he wheezes down time
Across feral fields his eyes skims
the scenery
His shadow silhouetted by the evening sun
aware of the amolaly
recalling a spectral youth
My mother had three magazines coming monthly in the sixties.
Women’s Day, Redbook and Ladies Home Journal.
American Girl Magazine made its debut, and she bought if for us.
My twin and I.
I remember thinking “who dresses like this?”
With the first edition.
By the third month I had to have white go go boots.
And a short plaid skirt.
But of course, living with my mother, it was never short enough.
The plaid couch was well-built in 1972.
We purchased it brand new from a ritzy furniture store.
I was not fond of the plaid, but it was fairly inexpensive.
Little Plaid could tell stories about my potato chip binges.
Many of them ended up in bits under her cushions.
Her Scotch guard was remarkable.
She is fifty-one years old now.
Sitting in my granddaughter’s sorority house.
They needed a couch.
It’s so comfy, we fight over it, she told me.
They had dolled it up with pillows and artwork.
It looks better there than it ever looked in my house.
Fifty-one and you have never aged, I tell her.
Plaid never looked so welcoming!
Old red plaid shirt blew off the line with ease.
One July day with a gentle breeze,
Farmer’s wife came out to peek into old deep freeze.
She was now standing in meat up to her knees.
Old farmer came out and asked with “please”…
Can you find my shirt up in the trees?
The wife stopped smiling. There were no tee-hees.
She began to hunt for shirt in their Humvees.
Farmer went inside to pay their state fair fees.
Opportunity to upgrade tickets, he did seize.
He loved the Iowa state fair in all degrees.
Wife asked everyone with heartfelt pleas,
“Have you seen a red plaid shirt taken by a breeze?”
A few neighbors did aptly tease.
Saw it go north, said old Mr. McFees.
I am sure it is in Belize, another decrees.
One thing for sure, that plaid shirt was gone in the breeze….
rainbow idea
we need prisms in prison
uplifting inmates
plaid idea
We need design on shirts
even on Fox News women
paisley idea
We need to bring back the joy of the sixties
But leave the Viet Nam War behind
plaid announces self
variety of colors
speaks rather clearly
in children’s jumpers
or fanciest Scottish kilt
keen stability
plaid fosters feelings
upon arrival
saying blue collar
working mans fodder
powerful in every way
plaid picks up a rake
plaid is confident
marching in pleats and jackets
generational
With days so bland, I must find color where I can
Panoramic Plaid Underscores Sunrise
grinds dark and fine, aroma transcending
tranquil skies a smoky gray ~
the saffron and blue grass
1/29/2020
my favorite plaid shirt
smells of her perfume
letting memories saunter in
like she did to a room
now that it's all over
what else is there to do
except to wear my favorite plaid shirt
that smells of her perfume
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