Commentary:

The following discussion is more about my reasons for selecting the particular image, than the mechanics of the poem itself. I have been asked if it was meant to be erotic. The answer is, "No." That is to say that I didn't write it with the intent to stir sexual feelings. I suppose I can't deny that the words I used were deliberately sexual, but the poem was meant to describe feelings of love and warmth in a tactile way.

The vest is of red Austrian homespun wool. It is totally imaginary, but that is what was in my mind. A closely fitting red bodice with a high neckline - completely feminine. It originally had sterling buttons and the "rampant" in the last line also referred to the rampant lion, the symbol for sterling silver. Later I changed it to buttons carved from bone, for the more sexual connotations of the word, the personal touch of the hand carving and because it just sounded better to me. I decided to leave the "rampant" in, however to play against the purity and show that there is always some level of conflict. I was thinking about a certain kind of love which one can literally wear. It is not exactly agape, nor is it the kind of love that pulls people into lifelong commitments with sexual fulfillment as an outcome. It is a love freely given, just because. It is the end in itself. And yet, that love cannot help but trigger some of those other feelings in those who are acutely sensitive to sights, sounds, smells and touch.

For some people, love spills over into everything they do. We spend our time finding ways for all of the needs in our lives to get handled, or not as is sometimes the case, in whatever ways we can creatively manage. And then someone comes along who seems to understand a little more than the rest; who knows how to take AND to give this thing that keeps us alive; gives us a reason for existence, beyond procreation and companionship. This may be the the love described in 1st Corinthians, but in this treatment of it, I invoke sensitivities that would certainly (hopefully?) make Paul cringe.