Homer Clapp
19 lines✦
ften Aner Clute at the gateRefused me the parting kiss,Saying we should be engaged before that;And just with a distant clasp of the handShe bade me good-night, as I brought her homeFrom the skating rink or the revival.No sooner did my departing footsteps die awayThan Lucius Atherton,(So I learned when Aner went to Peoria)Stole in at her window, or took her ridingBehind his spanking team of baysInto the country.The shock of it made me settle downAnd I put all the money I got from my father’s estateInto the canning factory, to get the jobOf head accountant, and lost it all.And then I knew I was one of Life’s fools,Whom only death would treat as the equalOf other men, making me feel like a man.
✦