However hard I try
My preoccupation with my
Winter socks is unavoidable
I cling to them like a baby chimpanzee to its mother
Hiding them under my mattresses
Placing them prominently displayed
Along with my bed booties in the top drawer of my otherwise shabby closet
The effort that goes in tucking them away after the harsh North Indian winters
Is quite like the diligence of the busy squirrel with a bushy tail
Stashing away his treasure trove of nuts for winter
The one in the Jacaranda tree opposite my window
This frisky squirrel darts his eyes hither and thither furtively
Well! I do not!

My socks are the warmest that you can find in Costco
Even the ones in Walmart are acceptable
I don’t care if they look hideous and grandma like
Grandma’s are sweethearts and so am I
They should look wooly and cuddly at the same time
I am partial to dowdy greys and charcoal blacks
You know to match my slippers
I dare say I possessed a pair of letter box red ones
They made my family squirm as they thought they were hardly age appropriate
I never cringed for they were the warmest ones I possessed

Did you know that bulky hand knitted socks that I wore to school for many years
Had given me an inferiority complex despite my mother’s best cables and smart stiches?
The other stylish girls wore the shop bought machine made ones
On hindsight they were intricately webbed with my gentle mother’s love and handiwork
And kept my tiny, chilled feet very warm and toasted
The ones that I have kept till today are the ones a boy from Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh got for me as a gift
Along with a crate of fragrant Kinnauri apples
They were woven in a vivid and colorful folk pattern
I almost fell in love with him

Socks also speak much about a human just as shoes do
They might spell class if they are branded and ridiculously priced
Or a devil may care attitude if they are loud patterned and garish
Delicate translucent ones suggest a refined fashionista
Skin colored ones and sheer black ones
Are seductive for they allow a tantalizing glimpse of flesh

It’s very important to wash them regularly
If you don’t want to lose your friends
The good thing is that you can scare away the mice with their atrocious stink
Never wear socks which are not a pair
They look better as husband and wife
Flirting with another’s socks is not recommended at all
Mostly because an ill matched pair calls attention to the love affair!!

Lily Swarm, multilingual poet, author, columnist ,gold medalist ,university color holder, radio show host, Peace and Humanity Ambassador, has authored eight books, a highly acclaimed book of Urdu ghazals, and received Chandigarh India’s Sahitya Akademi and Panorama Golden Book awards. International Beat Laureate for NBPF, her poetry is translated into 21 languages.