How do you know By Whitney Osburn

How do you know

By Whitney Osburn

How do you know, asked the man with a beard,

That my beard won’t touch the ground when it grows,

That I won’t trip over it when it’s long.

Will a car run over it when I cross

The road or will I make it all the way.

Will I stumble upon it every day?

How do you know, that my beard will look good?

Will it be gray, brown, red and trimmed just right?

Or will it be a hassle every day?

How do you know what length my beard will be?

Will I have to cut it three times a day?

Or will it be okay, to just let it

Run away like wheat in a big wheat field,

Growing uncontrollably far away,

To make hay, for cows, horses, goats and sheep.

How do you know that my beard will grow long?

Will it touch the floor or will it be short?

Do you know that my beard will even grow?

How do you know that it will touch the ground?

Do you know it will be able to grow?

How do you know, asks the man with the beard.

Do you know if my beard will drag on the

Ground, like snakes a slithering on the ground.

Will I be able to brush my long beard?

Or maybe even braid it really slow

I could curl it and put in a big bow

I could throw it over my shoulder or

Make it look real sleek and shiny, maybe.

Does anyone know if it will be okay?

Said the man with a long, long, long gray beard.

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How do you

BY KABIR

How do you,

Asks the chief of police,

Patrol a city

Where the butcher shops

Are guarded by vultures;

Where bulls get pregnant,

Cows are barren,

And calves give milk

Three times a day;

Where mice are boatmen

And tomcats the boats

They row;

Where frogs keep snakes

As watchdogs,

And jackals

Go after lions?

Does anyone know

What I’m talking about?

Says Kabir.