Homer Clapp

OFTEN Aner Clute at the gate

Refused me the parting kiss,

Saying we should be engaged before that;

And just with a distant clasp of the hand

She bade me good-night, as I brought her home

From the skating rink or the revival.

No sooner did my departing footsteps die away

Than Lucius Atherton,

( So I learned when Aner went to Peoria )

Stole in at her window, or took her riding

Behind his spanking team of bays

Into the country.

The shock of it made me settle down

And I put all the money I got from my father's estate

Into the canning factory, to get the job

Of head accountant, and lost it all.

And then I knew I was one of Life's fools,

Whom only death would treat as the equal

Of other men, making me feel like a man.