I was never accused of being

“too big for his britches”.

makes sense.

I’m like Rilke said of Rilke,

small.

small of stature, stature

meaning body

meaning torso then legs

then neck holding on

to the head for dear life.

don’t know how the feet

fit into the equation but

neither did Rilke on Rilke who

said small.

where do “britches” come in?

well, on the up and down

of every day I suppose.

the middle between the ups and downs

of cloth is reserved for drapery

which we learned about in art school.

the early German engravers were too

sharp-cornered when it came to drapery

which we would come to define as angular.

too angular.

that’s in art school where we learned

about the quiet pleasantry of the Florentines

and the colorful yelling of the Venetians.

all that red.

inside the gallery the bulls would attack

the Venetians while ignoring the Florentines

makes sense.

better to be on the side of the Florentines.

better safe than sorry.

better not to be hooked by the horns of bulls.