FAVORITE JACKET

Contradictions abound,

at least enough to make prediction

unlikely to be trustworthy

unless, of course, the forecast

calls for what is not expected,

but that’s not what this writing is about

as much as it is about the fact

that I like the unexpected

more than is normal

and confess without apology

that fascination with the possibility 

of adventure around the next corner 

or in the next hour of my life

keeps my eyebrows raised

and my mind racing.

Why is it, then,

that there is such comfort

in a twenty-five-year-old jacket

with frays and tears at the collar

and needs mending at the pocket…

and the white shirt with blue stripes

bought in Andover, Massachusetts,

isn’t even the kind of shirt I prefer

when it is new and crisp,

but now the soft, gentle material

has become part of the fabric of my life

that, like a good friend,

I hope to keep forever.