A Hoodie in the Rare Books
and Music Reading Room?
A cruel face. Who’d think a blond moustache
Could looks so fierce? A snub or pug nose that
Would look cute somewhere else cuts a gash
There, sticking out like the snout of a bat
Surrealistically hung, suspended
Beneath a thuggish hood. And worse, the tongue
Comes out where blunt, brutal lips have ended
Their pink attempt to hide the thing. They, stung
And swollen, show their anger at the rape.
A Viking would have been ashamed of this
Pale visage, something that a vampire’s cape
Would slither over quickly to dismiss.
So why’s he here, looking the street-gang part?
He meditates on Hellenistic art.