Classic Poem

This is the man who bore his shoulders hunched
And arched his backbone like an angry cat;
He also wore, derisively, a hat
A low black Jewish hat, battered and punched
Out of all argument, with his ears conched
Beneath it, small and strangely disparate;
His lips skimmed back upon a smile that spat
Between his toothpick and a tooth. He scrunched

Along the pathway toward us and without
Lifting his feet went past us with the smile
Still pinned there by the toothpick and
Just at that moment turned. Semitic snout
Returned and upturned eyes came back, and while
I stared there speechless bent and kissed your hand.