| Chicago Poet (1917) by |
| from Poetry, April 1917 |
Chicago Poet[]
Man in the Mirror. Courtesy What Shih Said.
I saluted a nobody.
I saw him in a looking-glass.
He smiled — so did I.
He crumpled the skin on his forehead,
frowning — so did I.
Everything I did he did.
I said, “Hello, I know you.”
And I was a liar to say so.
Ah, this looking-glass man!
Liar, fool, dreamer, play-actor,
Soldier, dusty drinker of dust—
Ah! he will go with me
Down the dark stairway
When nobody else is looking,
When everybody else is gone.
He locks his elbow in mine.
I lose all — but not him.
See also[]
This poem is in the public domain