things move around

Portraits of Accountants

The byline photos in Accountancy magazine
are a spectacle of spectacles,
oval faces, soft hair graying and thinning,

foreheads with a glossy sheen,
anything but aesthetical.
Accountants have looked like this since the beginning:

look at the portrait of Pacioli,
eyes like tiny chips of opal, face jowly, doughy,
pale as a plucked fowl,

divining something secret and wholly
cogent in the weft of commerce. Why be showy?
he seems to say. Keep it under your cowl.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 8th, 2008 at 11:11 AM and filed under New stuff, Poetry. Trackbacks are closed.

Carter said:
That’s genius. My favorite line is “Accountants have looked like this since the beginning.”
Posted on 11-Feb-08 at 10:59 am | Permalink
disgruntled said:
I think you’re being a bit harsh there. Some of them are quite cute. Of course, I’m biased. I married one.
Posted on 12-Feb-08 at 12:33 pm | Permalink
Yarb said:
Carter, thanks. In the beginning there was the debit.

disgruntled: I am one, so I’m prepared to admit exceptions.
Posted on 12-Feb-08 at 1:18 pm | Permalink