I Like Old Clothes (2 page)

Clothes that belonged to a friend of a friend,

Who wore them to school when she lived in East Bend.

“You lived in East Bend once, Blue Sweater,” I say.

“Just think, you are living in my town today.”

I like old clothes,

Everyday clothes,

Once-for-good clothes,

Now-for-play clothes.

When I wear them,

Then I say, “Clothes,

I wonder who wore you before you were mine?

Was she light-haired or dark-haired, seven or nine?

Did you make her look awful or make her look fine?”

It’s hard to tell

Who’d look well

In a yellow dress,

Who would look a mess

In a red-striped hat.

“Was she thin or fat?

Did she have a cat?”

I ask them that.

I like old clothes,

Cozy warm clothes,

Broken-in clothes,

Where’ve-you-been clothes,

Clothes that were worn

Before I was born

And now are mine.

Skirts with the line

Of a let-down hem,

I like
them
!

And party dresses

Not quite new,

Not quite in style,

I like them, too.

I like to wonder what they’ve done,

What games they’ve played

And if they won,

And if the parties turned out fun.

I like old clothes,

Faded-out clothes,

Not-so-new clothes,

Where-were-you clothes.

And each time I wear them

I try to imagine

The places they’ve been

And the faces they’ve seen—

And whose clothes they’ll be

When they’ve finished with me.

MARY ANN HOBERMAN
has written forty-five children’s books, almost all of them in verse.
I Like Old Clothes
was originally published in 1976 with different illustrations, but the text is just as relevant and accessible—and fun—as it was over thirty years ago.

A former United States Children’s Poet Laureate and the recipient of a National Book Award and the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, Mary Ann Hoberman lives in Connecticut with her husband. They have four children and five grandchildren.

PATRICE BARTON
earned a BFA in studio art from the University of Texas in Austin. Her books include
Sweet Moon Baby
by Karen Henry Clark,
Rosie Sprout’s Time to Shine
by Allison Wortche, and
Mine!
by Shutta Crum, which received starred reviews in
Publishers Weekly
,
Kirkus Reviews
, and
School Library Journal
.

Patrice Barton lives in Texas with her husband and son.