IN PRAISE OF PARSIMONY
Elisavietta Ritchie
The groom? There he is.
The guy in the tux
from the rental shop.
Simpler to borrow but
Cousin Jerry, just his size,
has a dinner tonight.
And his buddy, Bob,
has not filled out
so much in the gut.
He bummed that for his
third daughter's wedding
to the wrong man.
Today RENT-A-TUX has a sale,
as for last year's cars
at Avis or Hertz.
Took him hours to settle
on plain satin lapels,
the black cummerbund.
Should he go for a floppy
midnight blue bow? Clip-on?
You'd think of some woman
hunting comfortable pumps
or choosing a hat -- feathers
or perhaps the red velvet?
Forget frilled front and studs.
He's got a white shirt at home.
And it's not the first time
for the bride either. He pays
cash, departs reassured: others
tested the merchandise first.