An Ode to Hatmit - Sita Gaia

Everyone thinks I just

adore hats,

but the secret is

I only wear hats

that can be a Hatmit.

What is a Hatmit, you say? It originally sat on my shelf

branded for someone's

grandpa to wear-

I've been told seniors have bad falls.

Oh, Hatmit, I could never

wear you with your accompanying chinstrap

but I hid you under my toque,

broad hats, and snapbacks

worn forward.

Because I, too, fall

without the hint of a warning a full plate of vegetarian food,

salads and couscous spilled all over my lap,

in the main University building,

where there is only open space.

Waiting for the bus,

where other students

really have no clue

what to do.

Thankfully I have you.

Sometimes I have to

put my pride aside & remember that my brain

is precious cargo.

I never know what could happen

without Hatmit

Bio: Sita Gaia (they/she) and is a Queer Social Advocate. They help people with disabilities so they can live their best life. They are the author of the chapbook "Knocking On The Body's Door: Poems to Read on the Bathroom Floor (Prolific Pulse Press LLC 2021). They have also been published in Kissing Dynamite, Fine Lines Press, Anti Heroin Chic. They are most proud of their TEDx talk "The Hell Of Chronic Illness" You can connect with them on Instagram @sitagaia_poetry.