Vicious and sincere,
The black derby hat flaunts itself
Upon the head of an amateur libertine.
The libertine is a nervous rascal
Asking too many favors
From one spear-point exalted by men,
But the black derby hat,
Poised and incorruptible,
Curves its black " no " to the senses.
To those who cannot see,
The black derby hat is only a sugar-bowl
Turned upside-down and out of place,
Or one of many crowns
Bestowing their ugly pathos
Upon the struggle of a nation,
Or the way in which a dreamer
Pitifully says hello to the stars,
Or a symbol of bulky manhood
Swaggering in an ancient trap.
But to eyes that can look beyond
The surface rites of America
Bending over bargain-counters of flesh,
The black derby hat is an alabaster
Sentinel, defending its realm
Against the pompous indifference
Of Time, Infinity, and Eternity.
The black derby hat is an outline of earth,
Bold and abrupt, remaining
Indifferent to the desperate commands
Of sex and greed, and he who wears it
Is only a helpful accident
Bringing publicity to the hat.
Uncompromising, the black derby hat
Suggests the blunt isolation of intellect,
And yet, it may have been made
By some weak serf of emotion.
From the contact of incongruities
Life evolves the more perfect shape,
And so, the black derby hat,
Gliding through the frantic defeats
Of a city street,
Coolly protects its realm
Against the scarecrow-contempt
Of Time, Infinity, and Eternity.