Dressing My Daughters

One girl a full head taller Than the other—into their Sunday dresses. First, the slip, hardly a piece of fabric, Softly stitched and printed with a bud. I’m not their mother, and tangle, then untangle The whole cloth—on backwards, have to grab it Round their necks. But they know how to pull Arms in, a reflex of being dressed, And also, a child’s faith. The mass of stuff That makes the Sunday frocks collapses In my hands and finds its shape, only because They understand the drape of it— These skinny keys to intricate locks. The buttons are a problem For a surgeon. How would she connect These bony valves and stubborn eyelets? The filmy dress revolves in my blind fingers. The slots work one by one. And when they’re put together, Not like puppets or those doll-saints That bring tears to true believers, But living children, somebody’s real daughters, They do become more real. They say, “Stop it!” and “Give it back!” And “I don’t want to!” They’ll kiss A doll’s hard features, whispering, “I’m sorry.” I know just why my mother Used to worry. Your clothes don’t keep You close—it’s nakedness. Clad in my boots and holster, I would roam with my six-gun buddies. We dealt fake death to one another, Fell and rolled in filth and rose, Grimy with wounds, then headed home. But Sunday ... what was that tired explanation Given for wearing clothes that Scratched and shone and weighed like a slow hour? That we should shine—in gratitude. So, I give that explanation, undressing them, And wait for the result. After a day like Sunday, such a long one, When they lie down, half-dead, To be undone, they won’t help me. They cry, “It’s not my fault.”