175310.fb2 Remember Me, Irene - читать онлайн бесплатно полную версию книги . Страница 2

Remember Me, Irene - читать онлайн бесплатно полную версию книги . Страница 2

To Thomas William Burke

WHO WELCOMED A STRANGER

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

– BENJAMINDISRAELI

Over and over, they used to ask me

While buying the wine or the beer…

How I happened to lead the life,

And what was the start of it.

Well, I told them a silk dress,

And a promise of marriage from a rich man…

But that was not really it at all.

Suppose a boy steals an apple

From the tray at the grocery store,

And they all begin to call him a thief,

The editor, minister, judge, and all the people-

“A thief,” “a thief,” “a thief” wherever he goes.

And he can’t get work, and he can’t get bread

Without stealing it, why the boy will steal.

It’s the way the people regard

the theft of the apple

That makes the boy what he is.

– EDGARLEEMASTERS

from “Aner Clute” inSpoon River Anthology