Page:Anthology of Magazine Verse (1921).djvu/104

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
A neighbor came, to ask about
A plough, that night;
He never could forget that strange
And awful sight.

She'd used the kitchen knife on him
And he was dead;
She sat, a bruised and battered thing
From feet to head,

And hummed a little song, or spoke
A tender word,
And tried to make blue feathers stay
Upon a bird!

The ConservativeWinifred Virginia Jackson


THE TRICKSY TUNE
The Hired Man Speaks:

"He never spoke a civil word
To her; it was his rule
To snarl or shout; his best for her
Was 'Mooncalf, dolt an' fool!'"

The Story:

The house was built back from the Road;
It stood there grim and gray
And silent, 'mid great aspen trees
That quivered night and day.

The Road was narrow; old stone walls
Arose on either side
Begrudging from the farm the land
The roadbed had to gride.

89