An Eccentric Poem by Morgan Michaels

An Eccentric



Be virtuous and you will be eccentric-Mark Twain


'Yes', she was a countess, she said,
but being of a mind concise and thrifty
added 'that, and a dollar fifty
will get you onto the subway-'
A long time passing, surely.

She rode to harriers
not as ladies did, 'side-saddle', ,
she said, but properly astraddle,
following the yelping, fanned-out pack
over the hills and back.

Later she attended Trinity
and became a gynecologist-obstetrician.
getting a dispensation
'Leave from the crown'? I frowned, expectantly,
'No, from the bishop', she replied.

But she never practiced-
first there was the war; later the AMA
back home, dealt her the no-way.
And if you didn't ask, she would plainly say
'So I passed my life in marine-salvage.'

And she did. Comfortable with card-readers,
as superstitious as practical,
once at dinner she said she'd once seen Michael
the Archangel behind a church choir stall. I just kept eating.
What he did there I didn't ask.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Topic(s) of this poem: love
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