courage and understatement

When the bombs went off
the gentleman in the fine tweed jacket
slightly, but not completely, inappropriate
for the sweet summery morning in London
released an enormous burst of his finest breath
reaffixed his 200-pound-bowler
then, with a nod to Zeus
stepped out of the tube
amidst the hollers of the Bobbies
and hoofed it
twenty blocks to his office flat.

He called his wife to suggest alternative routes,
"It's a hairy thing, walking to work at my age."