He Wears His Clothes Hard Poem by Patti Masterman

He wears his clothes hard
Some ladies wear their clothes
So gently; wear it a few hours, take it off
Fold and put away. The clothes never show
A hint of wear, living out lives barely used
In graceful and orderly dresser drawers.

Not him: he wears his clothes like a rock ledge
Wears a sledgehammer, like a shovel
Makes love to a ditch; like a hammer
Loves a nail; his clothes would scream out
For relief and justice, if they had a voice,
Worn out so soon before their natural lifespan:
His clothes need their own union.

His clothes are a Turin's shroud of evidences
Of toiling days spent at work:
He does not spare them the rod
He never spares them anything
A stain often testifies to chemicals;
Naval jelly or caulking; black signifies grease
The three dimensional stain, that foaming insulation stuff
Which always adds interest; and tiny holes eaten from battery acid-
His clothes color coded by project and date.

He has one closet of clothes for all things;
A shirt and pants; they be worn
Both for concrete pour, and corporate meetings
Utilitarian for any and all needs; his clothes don't get a choice
They appear the same at all functions
Unlike women, who want a dress nobody has ever laid eyes
Although the rare formal appearances;
Deaths or weddings, taken care of by a suit
Which, thank god, didn't have to put in its sullen time
Mending fences, or changing oil in engines.

Piles of outfits often appear in only one day;
Of a morning the floor was clear, but by bed time;
One pile represents the day's first heavy equipment work,
Another set for some scheduled repairs in an office,
And a final set for more outdoor drudgery-
If one set of clothes suffice for all duties, why then
Three piles? Apparently there is the contamination factor;
By which one suit for working was contaminated by the work
Done earlier, and required a new vestment for the same work
Done later; and of course, a large washing machine
Is the minimum investment for the one-closet man,
Who wears his clothing hard, and often.