CHICAGO POET

Peter had to present a poem for his English class, and he chose one called Chicago Poet by Carl Sandburg. When he told me it was the Chicago poem, I thought it was the one about the factories and city of big shoulders, etc., but instead it was a short poem about a guy. I love this, and more than some of his other works, for me, this is why Carl Sandburg is Carl Sandburg.

Chicago Poet

I SALUTED a nobody.

I saw him in a looking-glass.
He smiled - so did I.
He crumpled the skin on his forehead,
frowning - so did I.
Everything I did he did.
I said "Hello, I know you."
And I was a liar to say so.

Ah, this looking-glass man!
Liar, fool, dreamer, play-actor,
Soldier, dusty drinker of dust -
Ah! he will go with me
Down the dark stairway
When nobody else is looking,
When everybody else is gone.

He locks his elbow in mine,
I lose all - but not him.

I'm not sure what it is. Something speaks to me, and makes me wonder about that dusty drinker of dust.