Chicago Poet by Carl Sandburg

 

I saluted a nobody.
I saw him in a looking-glass.
He smiled–so did I.
He crumpled the skin on his forehead, frowning–so did I.
Everything I did he did.
I said, “Hello, I know you.”
And I was a liar to say so.

Ah, this. looking-glass man!
Liar, fool, dreamer, play-actor,
Soldier, dusty drinker of dust–
Ah! he will go with me
Down the dark stairway
When nobody else is looking,
When everybody else is gone.

He locks his elbow in mine,
I lose all–but not him.