She said she wanted
him to read them aloud.
“I will not be taunted!” he silently vowed.
And so he flaunted
of those he was proud.
Others he vaulted,
face low and bowed.
One sin he vaunted:
(he would not be cowed)
The rhyme, he bent it.
And
the form was a tightrope
that would not be towed.