my late grandmother's underwear

national poetry writing month 2025, day 6

my favorite underwear?
nothing special—
cotton bikini briefs
but they belonged to my late grandmother.

she never wore them (this feels like an important detail)
but rather I found them in her closet
wrapped in plastic
tags included.

i paused while cleaning out her closet
taking some sweaters and tops
a bag
a pair of sweatpants to sleep in
a wool coat (with some moth holes)

but underwear?
cotton bikini briefs?
is this the type of thing
one should take from
their late grandmother’s closet?

if not me then who?

i took six pairs
one white
two beige
two black
and one in lilac.

they’re not a brand I’ve ever heard of
but they’ve become my favorite.
maybe, partially at least, because they did belong
to my late grandmother

but i’m not sure that i’m that sentimental
and they are good underwear
on their own.

though they belonged
to my late grandmother
they show enough skin
that you wouldn’t mistake them for granny panties
if
you didn’t already know
they belonged to my late grandmother.