Back in style for the man

who chases youth and beauty

and the shapes and colors

of one decade to the next,

these tartan hose of highlanders

will go with anything:

Designers call them timeless,

then out of fashion to suit

financial hemlines,

and cycles of wide ties, bow ties,

suspenders, pleated pants,

tasseled loafers, athletic sandals,

Bermuda shorts, bell bottoms

fedoras and berets,

long hair, no hair, teased hair,

high class, no class,

worship of the naked form,

the patchwork of thoughts

that come back around

to warm the feet

of every graduation class that

ever threw their caps in the air,

money spent and hours wasted

to make up for the lack

of natural cool and haute couture

in the hum of the looms

of the people of rags