Verse > Carl Sandburg > Smoke and Steel > III. Broken-Face Gargoyles > 5. Shirt
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Carl Sandburg (1878–1967).  Smoke and Steel. 1922.
  
III. Broken-Face Gargoyles
5. Shirt
  
MY shirt is a token and symbol,
more than a cover for sun and rain,
my shirt is a signal,
and a teller of souls.
  
I can take off my shirt and tear it,        5
and so make a ripping razzly noise,
and the people will say,
“Look at him tear his shirt.”
  
I can keep my shirt on.
I can stick around and sing like a little bird        10
and look’em all in the eye and never be fazed.
  I can keep my shirt on.

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