When I went to the city, Mary McNeely,I meant to return for you, yes I did.But Laura, my landlady’s daughter,Stole into my life somehow, and won me away.Then after some years whom should I meetBut Georgine Miner from Niles—a sproutOf the free love, Fourierist gardens that flourishedBefore the war all over Ohio.Her dilettante lover had tired of her,And she turned to me for strength and solace.She was some kind of a crying thingOne takes in one’s arms, and all at onceIt slimes your face with its running nose,And voids its essence all over you;Then bites your hand and springs away.And there you stand bleeding and smelling to heavenWhy, Mary McNeely, I was not worthyTo kiss the hem of your robe!
Spoon River Anthology · Edgar Lee Masters