(for Dónall) On Buying New Lingerie... A Double Bill Poem by Janice Windle

On Spending an Exceedingly Long Time in Debenham’s Lingerie Department Buying Bigger Underwear After the Usual Christmas Indulgence Despite Dónall’s Kind Assurances That It is AS HE LIKES IT!

I’m busy in the changing room
choosing bras, to fit my bigger,
well-fed, blooming, buxom figure,
buying lacy lingerie
to embrace the brave new me....

But this bra is far too small
and this corselet’s too tight...
this one constricts, this one’s too padded,
the shape – no it is just not right.
Assistance is at hand, I hear:
she tells me, “Try a fuller cup! ” – Oh dear!
A double D! And it won’t do up!
And I fear the added inches
call for pulleys and strong winches!

Dónall says my bigger bust
suits him fine, it’s for the best,
says his ever rampant lust
is excited by my chest...

He’s sitting by the dressing room door
I see he’s writing, what is more,
and I wonder, as he snickers
there among the bras and knickers
is he writing about my quest
for underwear to fit my chest?

(Janice Windle)


POEM WRITTEN IN DESPAIR WHILST WAITING ENDLESSLY OUTSIDE DEBENHAMS’S LADIES LINGERIE CHANGING ROOMS FOR MY LOVED ONE WHO IT APPEARS HAS DISAPPEARED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH FOREVER!

Sitting lost
stranded amongst

a 1000 & 1
knickers & bras

left like a dog
on a leash

panting outside the changing room

I fantasise about
the reality of you

& know that
(tonight...tonight...tonight)

I will be
your number one

bosom companion

first choice
to remove
whatever salacious item you
have chosen
to grace
the loveliness of your bosoms.

And that whatever
its price or prestige

It will be
cast away

maybe sadly on a stair
or forlornly on a chair

whilst we
(the Royal We)

...attempt to deal with...
...get to grips with...

the deliciousness of
your nakedness!

“Ahhhh...tá an lá
seo go brá! ”

I think in Irish.






“Ahhh...this day is good! ”

Translating you
into “the liniments of

gratified desire”

as that Blake bloke
so aptly

put
it
!

(Dónall Dempsey)