Poem: Etiquette

Etiquette

A man threw his hat on the bar,

the brim up, the center an open maw

lying there gaping upwards.

It is only a hate, but it seems improper,

maybe even rude.  I don't want to see it,

the dark opening that waits there,

the place his head should go,

the void, the absent space.

It seems wrong to me,

but I wonder why that is

or if others would think so too.

I do not recall being told 

it was inappropriate

to throw a hat down

in this way.  It is not a rule

I remember being taught.

Perhaps it is grotesque enough

no one thought it needed to be said,

or maybe it is just me.