SHE DESIGNS THE NEW ROBE

 

SHE DESIGNS THE NEW ROBE

 

A vest with a high neck, Japanese lines.

And she buys him a wool hat, black fedora.

A Stetson. ceremonial, for his 81^st birthday.

9 August 1945. He wears it, as it hangs

 

in the closet, For underneath, in the brim,

He’s tucked Ortega y Gasset,

And the uniform of the mustache

From 1968, he wears it stashed,

 

Everywhere he goes. He was the evac man

At the 85^th Evac Hospital, Qui Nhon.

His mustache, the full bird colonel said,

Not uniform below the lip. Cut

 

It. The other colonel, full bird, too,

In charge of surgery, says, Sgt Bodeen,

You will not cut that mustache. This

Is bone wax, It stops the bleeding. You

 

Will wax it, let it grow.

Your mustache will continue its work

As it curls towards your eyes.

To this day, that’s how he wears

 

His uniform under that hat.

Waxed, above and below

At the same time. If you look close,

A bit uneven on one side.

 

Jim Bodeen

24 September 2026