The Poetry Corner

Tom Merritt

By Edgar Lee Masters

At first I suspected something - She acted so calm and absent-minded. And one day I heard the back door shut As I entered the front, and I saw him slink Back of the smokehouse into the lot And run across the field. And I meant to kill him on sight. But that day, walking near Fourth Bridge Without a stick or a stone at hand, All of a sudden I saw him standing Scared to death, holding his rabbits, And all I could say was, "Don't, Don't, Don't," As he aimed and fired at my heart.