They were calling certain styles of whiskers by the name of “lilacs.” <br />And another manner of beard assumed in their chatter a verbal guise <br />Of “mutton chops,” “galways,” “feather dusters.” <br /> <br />Metaphors such as these sprang from their lips while other street cries <br />Sprang from sparrows finding scattered oats among interstices of the curb. <br />Ah-hah these metaphors—and Ah-hah these boys—among the police they were known <br />As the Dirty Dozen and their names took the front pages of newspapers <br />And two of them croaked on the same day at a “necktie party” … if we employ the metaphors of their lips.<br /><br />Carl Sandburg<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/alley-rats/
