Wearing My Witch Hat

[kestrell]

Ever since I was a little girl,
I waited for Halloween,
the one day I could wear my witch hat.
I would make it from rough black paper and Elmer's glue
and those terrible scissors they give little kids
that work as well as Ron Weasely's wand.
As I got older, other women told me,
You can't wear that witch hat
We're not allowed to wear
a hat like that
And, anyway,
No one really believes in witches or,
if they do, they're some sort of crazy lady.
I wondered, what would Shirley Jackson say to that?
and I bought a better witch hat.
It was higher, and pointier, with velvet flowers and black lace
and a veil that fluttered around my face
and even a few black feathers,
which would occasionally make a break for it
and fly off with a rakish breeze.

The first time I went to Salem
I saw so many witch hats!
Worn by college girls, and little girls, and even some men (the ones with style).
But the best were the women,
the ones with hair gone grey.
Their witch hats were the best
the most magnificent--
as if they had been saving up all their lives
for this
one
perfect
witch
hat
The one that declared
that they no longer cared
about what they were and weren't supposed to wear.
Maybe one day I will
be old enough
and bold enough
to wear a witch hat
one like that
covered with orange feathers.