He announces that
he can stick a knife
in an eye
from across the room

and thus disturbs
the party’s universe
of care and laughter
three times:

first when all realize
he means it; second when
all realize he 
has, somehow, probably

practiced; third,
when all realize that
someone known to all,
someone allowed in this universe,

is the type of man
who not only thinks of knives,
throwing, and eyes in one sequence —
after all, they all do that —

but who has taken the pains
to ensure that the thought
is no longer secret, but, in fact,
potentially actionable.