even gentlemen have a heart

what makes that thing swing
to and fro up there?
_____the wind, that’s all
but what is it, hanging there?
an officer, a gentleman,
a doctor, a lawyer,
a professor, an engineer?
and why did he do it?
_____it’s our fault, all our fault
we humbled him
belittled him
we…
_____MADE HIM UNDERSTAND
that he was just a man
like us
like them
like you
like me!
but how’d ya do it, mister? hey mister!
how’d ya get up on
that flagpole there?
with a ladder?
through ambition?
or was it a bank loan
that got you there?
no, you’re wrong
_____it was love
even gentlemen have a heart.

lyrics from Poem Strip,

a graphic novel by Dino Buzzati