Short Turtleneck Poems

Covey of nuns
without benefit of wimple

graciously attired 
sport coat, turtleneck, skirt

scurry through the airport
iPads swinging

unaware the turtleneck 
is their Roman collar.


Donal Mahoney...

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He wore a navy turtleneck
And man, he looked so cute,
An observation, I believe,
Nobody would dispute.

I can’t recall my outfit - 
Don’t know if it factored in - 
But on that night, our lives together
Somehow did begin.

Today we both remember
How our smiles were set aglow
On that February seventh
Forty-three short years ago....

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I forgot to share
I forgot to show
I forgot what to wear
I forgot where to go

I forgot my keys
I forgot my purse
It’s 90 degrees
In a turtleneck shirt

I forgot what to bring
I forgot what to say
I forgot to dream
At night and not day

Who has the time
I forgot my phone
A quarter past nine
I forgot to go home 

I forgot what you said
I forgot my reply
But I must go to bed
The time sure did fly...

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I love to wear a turtleneck,
A boat neck or a cowl
But offer me a V-neck
And I guarantee a scowl.

A scoop’s a possibility
And I will sport a crew
Yet I cannot explain just why
A V-neck will not do.

A sweetheart neckline flatters
And a halter is ideal.
A square or off-the-shoulder,
If the mood hits, has appeal.

Whenever I go shopping, 
I know what feels right for me,
And that is why I’ll rarely wear
A neckline with a V....

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I dropped a stitch,
A stitch in time,
And so her fabric unravelled
Little by little.

Slowly, with ironic deliberation,
At the turtleneck sleeve first,
Then up the arm, across the chest,
Along the back and down the other arm.

Like the owner her garment vanished.
A heap of shapeless yarn remained,
Resembling nothing so much 
As poorly visualised memory.

Of worlds that could have been,
And possibilities that once were
And the chaos that now 
Pervades her dreamless wake....

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