Chicago Poet
Chicago Poet
Poem
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.
Notes
Written by Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). 1st published in 1918.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Illustration by Monique Palomares.
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