Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Pinky Toe - HKatz

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Pinky Toe
(with grave apologies to Wallace Stevens)

I
A man played the piano
with his toes.
Only the pinky fell short of the keys.

II
A man who is drowning
writhes like his pinky toe.

III
Potbellied and self-possessed,
the pinky is a charm
conferring prosperity.

IV
One day the pinky will go to market
and never come back.

V
The pinky sleeps with its head
tucked into itself.
The blackbird sleeps the same way.

VI
The sound of my pinky
tapping on the floor:
a dimple on the flesh of silence.

VII
Wise men say the body
is only as strong as its weakest part;
I take good care of my pinky toe.

VIII
The pinky is the first
to succumb to the frost
and the last to thaw.

IX
Were a hitchhiker to extend his pinky
in place of his thumb
cars would careen to a halt.

X 
When the pinky toe bows
other toes follow its lead.

XI
A girl was born with six toes.
She did not know which
was her true pinky.

XII
He loved to kiss his wife’s pinky toe.
It was, he thought,
much cleaner than her mouth.

XIII
A flower’s bud stunted
never to bloom –
only the pinky can understand.


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