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(Dedicated to Don Marquis)
- Scuttle, scuttle, little roach,—
How you run when I approach:
Up above the pantry shelf,
Hastening to secrete yourself.
Most adventurous of vermin,
How I wish I could determine
How you spend your hours of ease,
Perhaps reclining on the cheese.
Cook has gone, and all is dark,—
Then the kitchen is your park:
In the garbage heap that she leaves
Do you browse among the tea leaves?
How delightful to suspect
All the places you have trekked:
Does your long antenna whisk its
Gentle tip across the biscuits?
Do you linger, little soul,
Drowsing in our sugar bowl?
Or, abandonment most utter,
Shake a shimmy on the butter?
Do you chant your simple tunes
Swimming in the baby;s prunes?
Then, when dawn comes, do you slink
Homeward to the kitchen sink?
Timid roach, why be so shy?
We are brothers, you and I.
In the midnight, like yourself,
I explore the pantry shelf!
- From Hide and Seek. (George H. Doran Company, 1921)
This poem is now in the public domain.
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Christopher Morley (1890 - 1957) was born in Pennsylvania, raised in Maryland, and lived in Long Island, New York for most of his adult life. A Rhodes Scholar who started his literary career as a newspaper reporter, Christopher briefly edited the Ladies’ Home Journal. He also did a short stint as a columnist for the New York Evening Post and edited two editions of Bartlett’s Quotations. During his life, he wrote more than a hundred books of essays, poetry, and novels.
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rhonasheridan:
Gets better the more you read it!
Posted 01/27/2015 01:12 AM
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transitions:
Loved it, such clever rhymes! 'biscuits' - 'whisk it'? Wonderful poem ~
Posted 01/26/2015 02:11 PM
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plgoodman:
Wonderful. The last line really got me!
Posted 01/26/2015 01:59 PM
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pwax:
I loved it!
Posted 01/26/2015 11:49 AM
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Dorcas:
Terrific, especially for anyone who has ever had a roach in the pantry.
Posted 01/26/2015 10:21 AM
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Katrina:
I cannot help smiling at this.
Posted 01/26/2015 07:40 AM
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