Pia Taavila-Borsheim

FASHION FORWARD

Listen to Audio Version read by Jill Khoury.

The local fabric shop is closing its doors
so I hustle on over before the last key clicks
to find row after row of floral chintz, linen,
even French lace and silk for $2.88 per yard.

I touch the sheen and shine that spools
from upright bolts, finger the warp and weave,
imagine summer dresses or ribboned finery.
I will wash each span of material separately,

press each length to its center fold,
pin tissue-thin patterns and cut.
The scissor blades will cleanly shear,
slicing along the bold black lines.

Bent over the machine, I will feed
one piece across the saw-toothed plate,
affix its mate and fell the seams.
The garment will assume its shape

darted, hemmed, and hang from the frame
of a mannequin form. I may speak to it then,
asking a dress, let’s say, if it prefers bronze shoes
or a floaty scarf to match. I may wear it out,

accept compliments, and say, “Yes, I made it
myself” while hoping its empire waist
and mid-calf flow sufficiently hide all bulges
and bumps. The polished cottons draw my eye.

Pia Taavila-Borsheim teaches literature and creative writing at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. Her collected poems Moon on the Meadow, was published in 2008 by Gallaudet University Press and Two Winters, a chapbook, was published in 2011 by Finishing Line Press. Her poems have appeared in The Bear River Review, Appalachian Heritage, The Comstock Review, Threepenny Review, Birmingham Poetry Review, The Asheville Poetry Review, Measure, Ibbetson Street Review and The Southern Review, among others.