Five Measures of a Man
I.
He stands
like self-conscious, tall men stand—
head slightly bowed, neck shyly craned,
careful not to loom.
He meets far taller men, always,
eye-to-eye,
with seventy-one inches
of mercury.
II.
Gravity has never met him,
(this skater of fence tops)
has never troubled this dancer's boots
with the ground.
III.
His measure is taken
not in inches
but adjectives:
ferocious
mellifluous
magnanimous
illimitable.
IV.
There's nothing bantam
nothing scrappy
nothing
plucky
about this man, who is
all Lafayette
and no
Napoleon.
V.
Were he any taller
the tilt of his rough hat
would dislocate
the stars.
