The Melbourne Cup comes round but once a year
All colour, flowers, silks and dresses bright.
Both horse and lady vie for punter’s leer
But bonnets win the day for fashion’s height.
Much millinery motif is discussed
Before, then at, then after, each event;
To don the most outrageous is a must –
One cringes at the thought of money spent.
Not just the colour or the style is judged,
The angle (called the ‘tilt’) is of importance,
Attachments can be weird or even fudged
No matter, as it’s not an exact science.
But my peaked lid, though mass produced and black,
Would cap whatever milliner begat.
Fugitive Fragments 