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Questionnaire

by Carl Sandburg, 1918

Have I told any man to be a liar for my sake?
 Have I sold ice to the poor in summer and coal to the poor in winter for the sake of daughters who nursed brindle bull terriers and led with a leash their dogs clothed in plaid wool jackets?
 Have I given any man an earful too much of my talkā€”or asked any man to take a snootful of booze on my account?
 Have I put wool in my own ears when men tried to tell me what was good for me? Have I been a bum listener?
 Have I taken dollars from the living and the unborn while I made speeches on the retributions that shadow the heels of the dishonest?
 Have I done any good under cover? Or have I always put it in the show windows and the newspapers?

Published in Cornhuskers
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