Poetry By
Hal Sirowitz
Published on: 2/25/2010
Command of Language
Drawing on my fine command of language, I said nothing." - Robert Benchley Drawing on my impeccable command of language - I can change from a Brooklyn to a Long Island accent In less time that you can eat a frankfurter after a 24 hour fast - I told the wannabe mugger, 'I think I saw a cop,' - with emphasis on the word 'Cop.' People of my social status say the word 'Police.' But I was showing him empathy - how I could put myself in his shoes, or 'When in Rome, do what the Romans do' '- even though I wouldn't be caught dead in his shoes - one was unlaced - but I kept thinking of my vulnerability and whether I could defeat him at hand-to-hand combat - when he read my mind and said, 'I only rob friends. Don't be afraid.' And I was scared of that missing shoe lace. Maybe he was going to use it to strangle me. It was a perfect weapon. I was a genius to think of it. But he had thought of it first. He was a genius of crime. And I was a genius of language, telling him, 'Goodbye. Hope to see you later,'' He said, 'I doubt it. We belong to different social circles.' He - to the mugging elite. Me - to the victims of crime. But not today. We belonged to the same circle - those who use language to say what they don't mean.
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