Unfunny uncles who insist <br />in trying on a lady's hat, <br />--oh, even if the joke falls flat, <br />we share your slight transvestite twist <br /> <br />in spite of our embarrassment. <br />Costume and custom are complex. <br />The headgear of the other sex <br />inspires us to experiment. <br /> <br />Anandrous aunts, who, at the beach <br />with paper plates upon your laps, <br />keep putting on the yachtsmen's caps <br />with exhibitionistic screech, <br /> <br />the visors hanging o'er the ear <br />so that the golden anchors drag, <br />--the tides of fashion never lag. <br />Such caps may not be worn next year. <br /> <br />Or you who don the paper plate <br />itself, and put some grapes upon it, <br />or sport the Indian's feather bonnet, <br />--perversities may aggravate <br /> <br />the natural madness of the hatter. <br />And if the opera hats collapse <br />and crowns grow draughty, then, perhaps, <br />he thinks what might a miter matter? <br /> <br />Unfunny uncle, you who wore a <br />hat too big, or one too many, <br />tell us, can't you, are there any <br />stars inside your black fedora? <br /> <br />Aunt exemplary and slim, <br />with avernal eyes, we wonder <br />what slow changes they see under <br />their vast, shady, turned-down brim.<br /><br />Elizabeth Bishop<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/exchanging-hats/
