Old Rag Sonnet--By Robert A. Hall--United States

Old Rag Sonnet

A denim shirt that you have cast aside,
I know that I am frayed around the cuff,
A button gone, and I am worn enough
To make the mending hopeless, though you tried.
If I were jewelry or a fancy gown--
But faithful service never was the thing
Could make a shirt into a diamond ring,
So carelessly you smile, and put me down.

But you might put me in some corner drawer,
The sentimental way you'd save a friend,
For you might find some use for me again--
Wear me around the house, or mop the floor.
And I'd be handy wiping up the rain
That streaks like tears across your window pane.
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Published in Share the Cup: Poetry of Love and Life by Robert A. Hall. Available on Amazon. Royalties go to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation
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Robert A. Hall, a Marine Vietnam Veteran, served 5 terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. He was an Association Executive from 1982 to 2013, retiring due to pulmonary fibrosis for a lung transplant 12/23/13. His 11 books, including two of poetry, Old Jarhead Poems and Share the Cup are here: http://tinyurl.com/n79esoh. Royalties go to charity. He does the Old Jarhead blog.