The old wire
of a
man—leaned
just
so, and
smoking pleasurably
a long
thin one on the
corner,
in front of the vine-
encrusted
limestone parlor—
knows enough
to say
nothing.
He has stood here
too many
times already
not
to
understand—
that bitter taste
is both
less
potent
and more
effective—
when a pinch-
dose of
levity is
incorporated.
That's why—
he likes
to always
makes sure—
his funeral
black—has those
pinstripes
in it.
