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# Coat
- URL: https://dianaludwick.com/coat/
- Published: 2026-01-16T15:33:44.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T20:12:44.000Z
- Description: “Coat” a wintertime mudroom standoff, Poem 016 in a series of 365 poems written by Diana Ludwick in 2026.
- Author: Diana Ludwick
- Tags: 2026 Poetry Challenge, Generational, Humor, Petty, Poems, Rants, Clothes, January, Kids, Morning Mayhem, parenting, Side-Eye, Tweens, Winter, #Migrated-1792872215677, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-10-24 20:03

Thirty degrees Fahrenheit  
under freezing —and falling.  
Dress accordingly,  
I counsel.  
  
Mom, *Ugh!* That only means they  
won’t let us out at lunch  
So I don’t need a coat!  
She counters.  
  
Seventh grade and  
facts are farce.  
Fashion over  
function, forever.  
  
In lieu of loathsome outerwear  
she slips on an indignant eye roll  
drapes herself in a chill of blue skin and  
ventures out on foot.  
  
Bare ankles glow as they   
bob up and down in the dark, away from me.  
An exposed shoulder shines like a beacon  
though it fades to grey as distance grows.  
  
Summoning greater forces   
from peach-flushed forest horizon  
Under breath  
I invoke skyward:  
  
May her righteousness keep her warm  
Might her indignation be a hearth.