“I used to have dozens of handkerchiefs
Of finest lawn.
I used to have silk shirts and fine new suits.”
He’s like a faun
This darling out-at-elbows Irish boy.
“Those were the days
Before the war
When money could be earned a thousand ways.
But now—last week I had a muslin bag
For handkerchief!
No socks, no shirts”—but wiles and smiles and gleams
Beyond belief.
30.3.21