Classic Poem

Does it suffer
from an excess of formality? Square
as an assertion of rectitude, it
is incorruptible, comes always
unchanged through the fire. What
could be more ideal
for administering correction—notes
Ignatz-the-Mouse who
utilizes its irreducible gravity
on the pretensions of Krazy Kat.
(Whereat Officer Pup
hauls him off to the brickhouse.) Brick
is simply available for rebuke
and itself impartial. Still,
remembering these, I suspect
there's a metaphysical brick
with aerodynamic properties—
enough to hang in mid-chuck
for—what is it—forty years?—
since Herriman drew it there
en route from Mouse to Kat
under a stranded moon
in a mysteriously changing
landscape of mesas. But

why a brick?
Well they say the poor fellow was stoned
most of the time, no pun
intended. The imperturbable
balance of any brick
on its long axis must be considered.

Maybe a brick just is
(to Herriman) a thing
imponderable as justice.











By permission of the author.