Ostomy Memories of Costumes

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HenryM

HALLOWEEN IS OVER, the little ghosts and goblins have gone home, shed their costumes, and set about eating as much of their candy goodies as they can before Mom takes it away.  Now we return to normality, when Mom and all the rest of us adults parade about in OUR costumes, the ones that we wear every day in order to mask what we fear may be our personal reality sticking out.  We may not be as profoundly unhinged as the mass murderer, the one about whom all his neighbors later say “he seemed like such a nice young man,” but we’re all doing our best to keep our worse impulses under wraps.  If I’m a homicidal maniac, you couldn’t tell by looking at me.  Or perhaps that attractive young lady who just cleaned my teeth last week went to a Flat Earther member meeting that evening, or a QAnon gathering to discuss the latest in cockamamie conspiracy theories.  Back in 1955 (otherwise a good year) a novel came out titled ‘The Body Snatchers’ about aliens taking over human bodies.  The book spawned several movies, where people weren’t actually people anymore but, rather, the bodies of former people now taken over by emotionless aliens bent on plundering the planet (sort of similar to contemporary Republican politicians).  My point is that we all wear costumes to a certain degree while we go about our lives and our jobs, interacting with other people in their costumes, keeping up appearances, trying not to offend, working at keeping that secret person inside of us from snatching our body away and going frightenedly astray.

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Bill

Hello HenryM.
Thanks for the reminder of times long gone by when I would dress up 'fancy' to go to work because that was what was 'expected'. 
I did pen a verse to try to capture the concept of what was being 'disguised' by this artificial costume wearing, so I will share it with you below: 

Best wishes

Bill 

CAMOUFLAGE.

I shine my shoes and brush my hair
and make sure I am smart.
Leaving early, so I’m there,
for that early start.

My boss could not lay fault upon
the manner that I dress.
For every morning I will don
the best that I possess.

You see me in my pin-striped suits
and maybe bowler hat,
but never can you see my roots
when I am dressed like that.

What sort of judgement of a man 
comes from his clothes alone?
Who likes to see me spick and span
so I keep ‘high’ the tone?

I give them all the things they ask,
myself to camouflage.
Then I can get down to ‘my’ task,
which is to sabotage. 

                              Be Withers 1989
                        (In: Catharsis 1992)

 

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HenryM
Reply to Bill

Yikes, 'sabotage'?  I hope for your sake that the statute of limitations has run.  

bowsprit

Appearances can be deceptive, Henry. There is a bit of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde in all of us. Face scientists say that the shape of a woman's lips can tell a lot about herself. Bill has led a very interesting life with myriad experiences. I am sure he can read faces very well and afterwards write appropriate rhyming verses about them.

Bill
Reply to HenryM

Hello HenryM.

The sort of sabotage I refer to in the rhyme was much more to do with the organisational petty politics, stupid irrelevant rules, and attempts to dominate and bully, than anything 'Trumpish'.

Best wishes

Bill 

 
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TerryLT

Hi Henry, if we are really lucky in life, we meet someone else who we feel comfortable enough with, that we are able to shed our costumes, or perhaps the costumes we wear with them are just more transparent than the ones we wear with others? Do we ever really shed our costumes when we are not alone?

I remember watching a movie version of 'The Body Snatchers' when I was a kid, and it scared the crap out of me. I'm sure it was a really bad movie by today's standards, terrible special effects and bad acting, but it sure made an impression on me! Scarier than all Freddy Kreugers, Godzillas and Frankensteins put together.

Terry

HenryM
Reply to TerryLT

https://youtu.be/q9VqUzdEQsk

Here's the link to a promo of the film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

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