Mr. Big

aka The Expert

Mr. Big

By Ernest D. Lieberman

Here comes the one
Who claims to know
All there is 
‘Bout the big show.

When questioned hard, 
He just stands there,
And blows his nose
Without a care.

He leads one on 
And pretends to be
The principal root 
Of an answer tree.

In reality, 
He’s nothing but
The outer shell
Of an empty nut.



[Author’s note: I wrote this in 1962 as a junior in high school. Because I was on the track team, I was assigned a study period instead of taking gym, but that study period was bedlam. My father arranged for me to sit in on a senior-level creative writing class. This is a poem I wrote in that class.]