Self-Portrait after Paul Morphy’s Stroke

Paul lost his footing, turned out a spectacular corkscrew.

It looked like he was acting out a series of renga

in the air. The general theme was prevenient grace.

But the white rim broke his form, and he hit

the bathtub water like a big charred bough of a tree.

A semicircle of his shoes—Oxfords, monk straps,

bluchers, a lone boot—crowded in to get a look.

After that, Morphy was only surface. You can look

into anything and see what you want. For example,

Pierre swore he could read stock returns

in the little channels of Morphy’s pruned thumbs.

He even called in Schiaparelli’s niece. She entered

with a shoe on her head, I swear. There are pictures,

look it up. My uncle, my unfortunate uncle,

says the whole event—Morphy in the tub—looked

floral, with shoe petals. Just to be difficult, I said

“saucer of milk”: a teacup on a dish, alone in the

quiet, waiting for a cougar to come by. I

always bank on something parched and ambling

to make my point. Or else something with a

broken heel, covered in wet newspaper and

huddled up next to the highway. All thumbs.