When We Were Funny, Half-Made Creatures

When we were funny, half-made creatures,

You snapped us, caught us,

Your spotty, awkward daughters,

With 1980s features,

And style that friends had taught us

Was de rigeur, despite the fact you thought us weak

For giving in to fashion.

Still, you bought us fabric,

And cut and stitched and pressed

With strange, maternal passion,

That let us know we dressed

As well as all the rest,

Or better, even best.

And yet we did not value

That care you took,

Although we named our style self expression,

Believed that we were ‘indie’

Not wanting to conform, 

We wished to make the same impression

As other girls from school, 

Wished to be uniform

And deeply craved the shop bought look.