sitting, i remembered that to be all things
to all men was one of the injunctions
of the gentle Gentile Apostle,

even on this ledge of human society
there is a crooked, stunted growth,
a savage on seeing a wristwatch.

we conclude all this in advance,
they are now as much behind us
as the others are leading.

my position already ameliorates me
and with my hands over my face,
i am the very picture of abject misery.

give me to understanding
that others will teach me the language,
plain, but always varied and wholesome.

and lastly, tis i who must
now move onward, upward
excelsior my motto, excellence my aim.

10/12/2005