Poetry July/August 2007 Atlantic Monthly

Perilous Riddle

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If I am a riddle, I am not a man.
Ain’t that the truth. Ain’t I a riddle?
If I am a man, I am not a riddle.

If I am a woman, am I a riddle?
Ain’t I a woman?
If I am a riddle, I am not a man.

If I am Sophocles, I am not mad.
If I am mad,
If I am a man, I am not a riddle.

If I am tragic, I am proud, middling manly.
If I am proud, am I tragic?
If I am a riddle, I am not a man.

Not a warrior, nor an old man,
Nor an infant’s versatile diddle.
If I am a man, I am not a riddle.

If I am a sphinx, my intellect
Unmans you. Ending choice? Chance?
If I am a riddle, I am not a man.
If I am a man, I am not a riddle.

Judith Hall's most recent collections are Three Trios (2007) and The Promised Folly (2003). She teaches at the California Institute of Technology and at New England College.

Perilous Riddle

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