The capybara as reassigned by Sandra Beasley

in her poem “Unit of Measure,” sent me into hysterics,

a sense of wonderment, and the usual feelings of inadequacy.

She says she knows where to find them, but doesn’t say

she’s actually seen a capybara. I'm sure she has.

She mentions the arbitrary length of the king’s foot

way back in the day as becoming the unit of measure

of a foot for the entire kingdom, and based upon that,

she uses the capybara as a new, arbitrary unit of measure,

rationalizing that "everyone is lesser than or greater than

the caybara." or: "everything is mistaken for a Brazilian

dance craze more or less frequently than the capybara." and so on.

clever. but she evades the things which are equal in size to the capybara,

which some readers might find disconcerting.–– I don't.

Also, she doesn’t say how the king's unit of measure affected

the daily comings and goings of the kingdom's peasantry,

although it was probably helpful to the king's war machine.

Further, the king had two feet, and standing like the Egyptians

pictured on hieroglyphics, lacking the illusion of depth,

the unit of measure could well be reimagined (given a small

space between them for future adjustments) –– as

one foot directly in front of the other foot as a foot.

loved the poem, "Unit of Measure" by Sandra Beasley

not found in the volume: "Made To Explode" but you can

listen to her read it on the "Poetry Foundation" site, and if you do,

you'll take your heart medication and thank me in the morning.