Classic Poem

1

When a man had gone
up
in Russia from a small
town
to the University
he
returned a hero —
people
bowed down to him —
his
ego, nourished by this,
mount-
ed to notable works.

2

Here
in the streets the kids
say
Hello Pete! to me —
What
can one be or
imagine?
Nothing is reverenced
nothing
looked up to. What
can
come of that sort of
dis-
respect for the under-
standing?