THE CROOKBACK

    by Dick Bakken          

Careful!--I’m nursing this fox	
beneath my coat. Don’t step
too near, don’t speak so rudely.
It’s a timid beast, and it hurts.

Yes you thought me deformed--	
a hunchback perhaps? Strange,
don’t you think, that a hump
should heave beneath the cloth

or a dirtied collar sport such fur.
Look again, friend. See a brush
wrapped to warm my neck--No,	
no closer!--you’ll wake its hurt.	

Don’t! Have you never seen me
alone on the street stroking
my ragged coat in the evening?
Have you heard soft whimperings?

Did you think, friend, that I sniff
down this cross for you?--Careful!