White Glove

3. Following James Tate’s lead, write a description of a famous person’s possession (either real or invented). Show its relevant and how it sheds new or a surprising light on the owner.

Sitting backstage, he could hear the crowd roaring with anticipation. They had been chanting his name for twenty minutes. Let them wait. He wasn’t ready, not yet. There was one thing left to do.

Tonight, he would make one small dance step for mankind. This step would revolutionize performance and consume pop culture. And it was all thanks to one simple accessory.

Whenever he slid it on, he felt transformed. Converted: a wholly new creature, prepared to what no man had done before. He adored how it sparkled in the sun. Sometimes, he imagined that the rhinestones were actually rare jewels, crystals mined from the depths of the earth. These beautiful diamonds had risen from darkness and ascended to the world’s stage, like he had. Together, they glittered with greatness as the people watched, their mouths agape.  He and the white glove would take the world by storm.

Little did the world know of the insecurity, darkness, and disease that the glove concealed.

That night in 1983, he made music history. Thirty years later, the bedazzled white glove is embalmed in pop culture legend. This single glove, worn exclusively on Michael’s left hand, sold for $350,000 at an auction. The glove was more than mere decoration; he used it to cover the blotches on his skin. Today, the solitary glove represents the beginning of the end.