The Dream Of Wearing Shorts Forever Comments

Although the idea of writing about wearing shorts is promising, Les rambles on for too long, never really resolving anything. New Zealand men also wear shorts often, mainly in summer.I like wearing them.

Les Murray wrote a poem much longer than the witty title would suggest. In fact, he goes a considerable distance from the humor implied in the title. It may be tongue-in-cheek, but the aggressive comprehensiveness of his survey of fashion shows a very different point of view. Still and all, he expresses his theme very clearly in these lines: Wearing shorts everyday is HOLIDAY, FREEDOM FROM AMBITION. The essence of a holiday is its brevity, but Les Murray is suggesting a permanent holiday from ambition toward a mellower, less hectic and stressful existence - one he later calls one of ANGELIC NUDITY, SPIRITUALITY WITH POCKETS. I can imagine later-day hippies saying YEAH, MAN, unaware of the layers of irony they are missing. You don't write 30 volumes of poetry without ambition!