Advice: A Book of Poems

<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</SPAN></span> <h2 class="nobreak">TO A MAN</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Master of earnest equilibrium,</div> <div class="verse">You are a Christ made delicate</div> <div class="verse">By centuries of baffled meditation.</div> <div class="verse">You curve an old myth to a peaceful sword,</div> <div class="verse">Like some sleep-walker challenging</div> <div class="verse">The dream that gave him shape.</div> <div class="verse">With gentle, antique insistence</div> <div class="verse">You place your child&#8217;s hand on the universe</div> <div class="verse">And trace a smile of love within its depths.</div> <div class="verse">And yet, the whirling scarecrow men have made</div> <div class="verse">Of something that eludes their sight,</div> <div class="verse">May have the startling simplicity of your smile.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Once every thousand years</div> <div class="verse">Stillness fades into a shape</div> <div class="verse">That men may crucify.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />