Distrust Appearances

He came into the bird-shop where I stood A hulking giant, monumental, grim, A paragon of muscular manhood. 'What is sold here,' I thought, 'that could serve him?' His heavy brow, his grat, prognathic jaw Spoke brooding truculence; he wore no vest; And, where his shirt flared one side, I saw The matted hair upon his mighty chest. I thought of Gog, Carnera, Hercules, As he stood by me, breating like a gale. 'What can he want,' I wondered, ''mid all these. Pet dogs, birds, goldfish offered here for sale? Bulldogs at least.' The parrots watched him, tense; The yelping pups grew still to see him pass; All sensed his presence, dominant, immense. Even the goldfish goggled thro' their glass. He scared me. Hastily I made my choice And paid my cash. Yet loitered by the door, Longing to hear the thinder of that voice Rumble and break into a sudden roar; Longing to know, amongst these playful folk Pups, parrots, love-birds - what could be his need. Sharks? Panthers? ... Then his piping treble spoke: 'Please, miss, three pennorth of canary seed.'