A Witty Tee Shirt Poem by Denis Mair
A Witty Tee Shirt
A young Indonesian woman walking on the street in Hong Kong,
wearing a black tee shirt with the word 'WHATEVER'
lettered in shiny sequins, attached in a whimsical design,
with strings of sequins hanging from the bottom edge of that word,
so a second word can be seen below it, as if through a bead curtain,
revealed when the wearer's walk sways the sequins.
If only I had diligent writing habits,
I would write a Barthesian semiotic analysis of
W_H_A_T_E_V_E_R
S_T_R_O_N_G:
The cynical world-weariness of 'WHATEVER...'
combined with the gumption of a city that needs to recover,
because a hateful splinter ripped through the skin of everydayness,
sending a shock wave through the motherly heart of civil society.
We heard phrases: BOSTON STRONG...CHARLOTTESVILLE STRONG...FERGUSON STRONG
enough to make the zeitgeist cringe,
so a jaded designer decided not to specify
which city will have to show strength this time
and which public figures will do the honors next
stepping in as figureheads of public mourning.
Now background silence suffers tinnitus due to bombs,
so the designer blazons the words
W_H_A_T_E_V_E_R
S_T_R_O_N_G
on the chest of a girl unaware of the references, with an eye for cute design,
or maybe she is construing references for herself, outside of Boston or Ferguson.
A collection needs to be made of these T-shirt slogans, these snippets of zeitgeist.
I collect them as best I can, by walking down the street.
You have good intuition. In your first visit to my PH page, you have found my only poem that touches on our predicament in the real world, if only peripherally!
Revisiting this poem after a long time.Your eye for observation and expression on an unusual topic amaze me.
Part 3. Whatever this tee shirt means ;) I like the way you take in a sight on a street, write it in a way that we are on that street with you and witnessing what you are witnessing, and then probe the event with the help of your mind, and that my friend is why I love reading your work! ! !
Part 2. But... But... Strong? Whatever Strong? If this is a teenage anthem, then it is in code and I don'y have the master key... unless this careless me-oriented world of whatever is the new strong way of living in a world teeming with violence.
Part 1. Whatever! ! ! ! I find it difficult to find a word that gets under my skin and irritates me like a bur under the saddle than the teenage anthem- -Whatever. I wish it had been in vogue when I was a teenager- -the thought of all the people in power that I could have nettled is awesome, dude.
Hey and I like your eloquent wording here, I like to use zeitgeist, I like the z words for they are rare n rarely used. So kudos for this creative poetic analysis. And stay safe n stay strong and continue sprinkling such wonders from your pen. And yes happy new yr.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/28/2024 2:11:31 PM # 1.0.0.1119
Terrorist attacks have become very common place sending shock waves through human psyche.However people also show their courage to face and counter terrorism.They do not cower down under the evil forces. Designers make tee shirts on the themes of hot topics.Though these are made for marketability, they also combine creativity and ingenuity. A poem that delves deep into psychological basis of tee shirt slogans, a poem of different taste, thanks for sharing.
Your comment is greatly appreciated as always. The long string of observed details may stray too far towards prose for some people's taste. However, I think that every human faculty deserves to be part of the search for meaning and the lyrical dance.