don't turn your back on a man's modesty
it will scribble down a list of grand pursuits
before you can even begin to tell him
about your recent dentist troubles

somewhere between punch eight and punch nine
the man learns to decline ninety percent of chances to brag
and some find peace in this little procedure
and thus perfect it over a career to a level of admirable artistry

the idea of a modest intellectual inspires in me a bitter smile
of a thirteen year old girl in the womens section of sears shoes
when i was made to bring for her skimmers of different colors, all undesirable
she capitalized, then and forever, on the power derived from my fear of the unknown

and somehow, in the presence of a mother's allowance
she too flirted with the facade of modesty
like the colleagues i admire and strive to join
forever polishing their weaponry in case the definitive day of judgement does arrive