The Coat Kept for Best

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A modern fable in verse. Wise Monkey Wrought scroll N.007, "The Coat Kept for Best." One coat was saved for best. The other went to work. Best was a date only the wardrobe knew. The coat was kept for wearing best, excused from weather, spared the test. It hung in wait for one grand hour, too good for any passing shower. The other coat went out each day, through drizzle, sleet and Monday grey. Its cuffs grew thin. Its colour turned. It kept the shape that use had earned. The seasons passed. The best coat hung still, excused from wind, excused from chill. It wore its waiting with some pride. A moth moved in and lived inside. At last the day it saved for came. The coat came down. It looked the same, except the elbows and the back, where something small had had a snack. The work coat went. It did its best. The best coat stayed behind to rest. It hangs there now, as good as new, except for where the moth got through. The work coat went to the wedding. Kept for best is kept for the moths.