Ties

In wardrobes, ties hang like curing fish, patterns like smoke. (In restaurants, avoid kippers and sauce.) "She said she wasn't ready to be tied down. I was gutted."

It's the tries that bind. In class, at an interview, at weddings. All those boys getting hurt under their collars. Man, it's their funeral.

Ties are universal: presenters of International Poverty Specials receive faxes about their ties. Spokesmen, always getting themselves in knots.

Bosses have a million hang-ups, but they keep you in suspense. They say: "Don't get shirty with me!"

Fractal teardrops are called "Paisley pattern", but they happen to be Indian. They're diamonds, stretching a point - to the end of the Silk Road.

A moth started all this, a moth will finish it.

All texts unless otherwise stated © Richard Price