Stance

Jean Clower

When I was a child I broke
and thought me bent,
but years have proved my yoke,
instead, a splint:

my heart locks at the knees
when it should fall;
conversely, to express
derision, kneels.

Simple enough, were not
my wits as lame:
for when two freaks collide
in a narrow room,

forced to embrace, they vie
or couple, til
their least obliquity
is mutual.