Stormy Monday Wardrobe Blues

Texas bluesmen,
we used to say, were the
sharply dressed
razor laser player exceptions
to our rule —

the worse they dress,
the better they play —

said rule exemplifed
one night in our local club
by Wayne Bennett,
master of strings for Bobby Blue Bland,
playing with a pickup band,
destroying us with his hollowbody
while dressed in non matching
polyester plaid pants and jacket.

Texas bluesmen dressed better,
played well, played really well,
but Wayne Bennett was better —
Wayne Bennett, from Oklahoma.

That night Wayne Bennett
in mismatched jacket and pants
looked right at me,
chewed gum
and nodded while he played
“Stormy Monday.”

I’ve dressed terribly
ever since,
still hoping for
that non-Texan lightning
to strike me
though I’m starting to believe
that clothes don’t always
make the man.