THE SIZE OF A HAT FOR THE WORLD: 1,2,3

THE SIZE OF A HAT FOR THE WORLD pt. 1

I wish the world would just pretend
for one day that it wasn’t icy and cold.
I mean real ice and real cold.

I don’t care about the inner man.
Speaking of outer man, I once
walked down the street wearing
a fedora.

A fedora!

That has to be harder than pretending
you are not icy and cold.

Look at the size of the world
and then look at the size of me.

I would like to see the world
walking down the street in a fedora.

A fedora is a men's felt hat that is creased
lengthwise down the crown and pinched
in the front on both sides.

**

THE SIZE OF A HAT FOR THE WORLD pt. 2

I am imagining what it would be like to take
the world into a hat shop and ask for a hat.

My hat size is 7 & 5/8.

The portly fellow with the tape measure
looks carefully at the tape measure
considers it for a moment and then says:

I think we are looking at a: 4,7,450,
835,455 & 3/4 size hat here.

He speaks with authority.

This isn’t his first hat.

**

THE SIZE OF A HAT FOR THE WORLD pt. 3

The world walks down the street feeling jaunty
in its new fedora.

A little boy points at the world with his finger.
His finger has a soupçon of mucus upon it.

He laughs and his Mommy says SHUSH
and they hurry away.

Into the waste basket goes the fedora, atop
the sardine tins and cigarettes.

Who am I trying to kid? says the world.