Dudley

Dudley, one legged, is not the same man Who taught me, when young, to spin gigs Like calypso songs from a rum glass pouring Is not the same man whose bat hoisted balls Above the starapple tree's purple top and win At cricket like my father's Bonnie Blue flag That no other horse could beat. Dudley has one Leg but he is not defeated. He is a man better In his dexterity of soul, for that he seems An older boy, despite our dread of age, carrying All eyes through the ring and to the crease. He Was always superior to me in physical prowess And I could flatter him with the conceit of my mind But he laughing so today when we met, and he Swing from his crutch and into the car so adroitly And laughing about his missing leg like it was a kiss Reported on in childhood and nothing to miss Showed me a man superior in flesh and soul For I, with even Christ, find that faith too bold.