Poetry

LADISLAW the critic

is five feet six inches high,

which means

that his eyes

are five feet two inches

from the ground,

which means,

if you read him your poem,

and his eyes lift to five feet

and a trifle more than two inches,

what you have done

is Poetry—

should his eyes remain

at five feet two inches,

you have perpetrated prose,

and do his eyes stoop

—which Heaven forbid!—

the least trifle below

five feet two inches,

you

are an unspeakable adjective.