Poems Niederngasse
Chuck Levenstein
This is not a Foot
Nor if it were one
Would I apologize:


An accomplished foot
Is not webbed, is not flat,
Is not adorned with corns
Or other horny toes.  No.

A foot that has been somewhere
And done something
Smells like a trochee,
And is well on its way.
A meretricious foot strides,
A coming foot is without shame,
Iamb Iamb Iamb, he says, and
You, you are not!

My foot is too big and skinny
With bumps here and there,
It wants freedom and fame but
Doesn't really know how to kick

Or swim.  This foot
is not worth mentioning.

round I, poem 2, 3 Aug 2005

Charles Levenstein is a contributing editor for Poems Niederngasse.