*To Volodya*

Who?

The guy
with the elephant neck
and enormous easy honest ears,
with his lip curled down on the words "That's that!"
sticks out the iron chin
of a leader of men,
pushes his way out, breaks out, flies out!
A pilot who laughs
as his plane cracks up in midair
and the gloom of the universe glitters
like an iron bird exploding with laughter.
A soft tender lip, a pouting lip,
a hulk, a hero with five-foot shoulders--
Who is he?
What he does is, over and over,
with a voice that sounds like a smile,
he strikes the blazing match of his wit
on the sole of stupidity's shoe.



V. Khlebnikov,1922


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