They were calling certain styles of whiskers by the name of -lilacs.â?
And another manner of beard assumed in their chatter a verbal guise
Of -mutton chops,â? -galways,â? -feather dusters.â?
Metaphors such as these sprang from their lips while other street cries
Sprang from sparrows finding scattered oats among interstices of the curb.
Ah-hah these metaphors-and Ah-hah these boys-among the police they were known
As the Dirty Dozen and their names took the front pages of newspapers
And two of them croaked on the same day at a -necktie partyâ? ... if we employ the metaphors of their lips.
Alley Rats
Carl Sandburg
(1)
Poem topics: feather, dirty, street, police, Valentine's Day, beard, Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about Alley Rats poem by Carl Sandburg
Best Poems of Carl Sandburg