There are women who are horses, there are women who are ships.

There are men who are horses, there are women who are fish.

Children whirl like helicopters, evading every kiss.

And dogs who like lobster into butter can be dipped.

In this world of wind and weather, be careful what you do.

There are midges who are monsters, and not afraid of you!

∩ Originally inspired by an American woman, a CIA operative and lover of Arabic poetry, met on la rue de Fleurus. A shout-out, too, to Dana Gioia, Anne Finch & Kathrine Varnes—this in recognition of Gioia’s excellent article on Accentual Verse, which kicks off Finch and Varnes’s excellent An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art (The University of Michigan Press, 2002).

— Poem and drawing by William Eaton.

Many thanks to Claudia, here shown upside down. She has, on more than one occasion, more than justified one of my many assertions: that art modeling is, or can be, a performance art (a wonderful performance art).