On “Ode to the Bow Tie”

A few weeks ago, the Honors College here at the University of Tulsa held its second annual poetry recitation. I participated with an original poem—for which I won the award for “Best Faculty Performance.” It was fun to not only write the poem but also recite it while trying (read: struggling) to tie a bow tie live on stage.

Here is “Ode to the Bow Tie”:

Oh what a piece of playful cloth,

This silky, stubborn tie.

To you it’s merely but a moth;

To me, a butterfly.

Rejecting naked propagand’

Of necktie mafios’

The bow tie takes a noble stand

Of poetry, not of prose.

Accused of stuffy arrogance?

The contrary’s what’s true:

It marks some cheerful elegance

And charms and winks at you.

For me it works at banquets grand

And classrooms just the same:

It gives a poise that’s finely planned

Yet plays a festive game.

Exuding fresh sartorial flair,

With whimsy, wit, and flow,

It’s needed now and more than e’er

In this here world of woe.

So here’s to silky butterflies

That flutter as they roam,

That flit and perch and call your eyes

To chaos I call home.