You are two in one
hugging buttocks
crotch and thighs
they are soft as grass
burn thin as paper
worn
at rain
in sun
at night
carrying
the memories
from a Dhaka seamstress
dreaming of an urgent nap
before another workday starts;
in the seams
still lingers tears
and a scent from Buriganga dusk.
Once they had
a midnight hue
but they have
faded blue and oil-stained
with a signature
of urgent
bike repair
when we were late
to see that film
we never really liked.
On the right knee
there’s a hole
from when I slipped
on gravel left
after ice
had thawed,
My jeans remember
even after
all my cuts and bruises healed.
My jeans
are still my notebook
friends and followers.
Inspired again by Neruda I decided to write an ode for dVerse OLN. We had this as a prompt a long time ago.
—-
August 24, 2017
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Oh, what a fun ode, Björn!
I love your ode to your jeans and oh what memories they hold…some I’ve bet you may have forgotten.
Good God, this is one of your best poems EVER. Crazy good style. This made me very happy to read, and that is what I have always longed for most out of poetry. Well done. I will read this several times, I’m sure.
What a wonderful journal is your jeans! I like how they remember things.
A wonderful ode to your jeans and their journey from the hands that prepared them for all that was (and still is) to follow :o)
I love the way you go from your own body encased in your jeans all the way to a ‘Dhaka seamstress
dreaming of an urgent nap
before another workday starts’.
I also like the way you describe the colour, including the oil-stained
‘signature
of urgent
bike repair
when we were late
to see that film
we never really liked’.
Brilliant!
I remember the original write – You gave it character and steadfast loyalty, with all its memories intact ~
I just checked, and this was written free from my memory.. so I didn’t check back to the original until this was written…. Here is the original https://brudberg.me/2015/06/20/ode-to-my-briefs/
This is such a delightful read, Bjorn 😀
An ode to jeans! You are too much. Yet, this is so good.
Well Pablo Neruda wrote an ode to his socks.
Wow–I really dug this piece; something fresh & original. I guess every article of clothing, every house & building, every vehicle, every tree is witness to episodes of your life. Lots of fodder for future dVerse prompts. This poem shines, brother, jetting toward the top of your lexicon
Ah, the things Neruda does to a poet! This is clearly universal.
I love how you brought out the character of your jeans…they might just walk off on their own now that you have expressed their rich history….
Nothing better than a favorite pair of jeans…soft as grass, thin as paper! I like the idea of denim notebook, a journal of sorts.
This poem is ASTOUNDING, Björn. I love all of the images and memories you weave into a single garment — and especially that the jeans’ voyage starts in India, with their maker. Just brilliant.
Few things can be as beloved as a favourite old pair of jeans!
I like the idea of seeing one’s jeans as a kind of “notebook”.
This was fun, unexpected and actually tender.
My jeans look about that way too. Vivid description!
Haha… I have yet to stitch the experiences. 🙂
My jeans
are still my notebook
friends and followers…. that’s a wonderful way to think of those jeans.
You manage to combine comedy with seriousness. the mundane with the spiritual, in this ode to your humble jeans. Great writing!
I really like this–the way you described the tears of the seamstress still buried in the seams, the feel of the jeans themselves, the other memories carried in them. . .and the bit of homage to Neruda, too. 🙂
Yup. I have jeans like that. Love the idea of jeans as notebook and friend.
Goodness, you wrote with so much passion I was so afraid it was headed for any tragic turn — like “Wilson” the volleyball. The happy ending is oddly satisfying. Lol
What an interesting poem, Ode to My Jeans! Simply amazing.
I remember that prompt! I love this idea of how an article of clothing is a notebook, not just of your own life, but of the one who sewed the clothing in the first place.
The memories in an old bit of denim! This ode sounds most affectionate 🙂
I had not read the previous poem until now, so both leave me fixated on your mid-section or crotch today ;-). I love how the briefs and jeans gave you so much food for thought…freedom to explore their history as well as so much more! Time for a new pair?
You made it talk most accurately Bjorn. They could have revealed more details in storage. Great memories of togetherness!
Hank
Björn… in case no one else has shared this terrible bit of news… you have written a quintessentially American poem. Next to cars, cowboys, and guns… Americans revere their jeans. https://youtu.be/b76kjd5nvMg
I love the idea of jeans remembering. I know that I am very attached to my jeans … perhaps that’s a big part of the reason why.
This is funny, because I’d have never imagined writing something like this. Very original and good.