I Will Keep My Coat On Poem by Fred Odom

In the event of the arrival of an unexpected and acclaimed person
(Acclaimed, that is, by both modern and historic standards alike)
Who has deigned to honor this environ with stories and verbal accounts
Of travels, contacts with the wealthy, powerful, beautiful,
The famous and infamous alike…

And in so doing, raises the emotional heat of the room
So that the audience (in at least affected admiration) ,
Borders on collective swoon with heated and sweating brow…
Palpitations… fixed gaze… and taut muscles,
Straining to hear and appreciate each syllable and word
As though experiencing divine revelation
In exquisite descriptions of even the most mundane.

In this event,
An event to be documented by both serious and fluff journalists alike:
In this event,
That crosses the realm of fascination
Into the realm of reverence;
In this event,
I will maintain my composure and stature
In the heat of peer pressure and
Even in this atmosphere of heated admiration,
Will keep within the sureness I have
That I can maintain my genuine wholeness in the moment,
Regardless of forces within and without;

And despite the heat of conformity without sanity,
Will keep the cloak of my identity well wrapped about my perceptions
That change constantly in kaleidoscope shifts of patterns and light
From moment to moment to moment.

I will keep my coat on.