Back to Index

John M. Church

by Edgar Lee Masters, 1916

I was attorney for the "Q"
And the Indemnity Company which insured
The owners of the mine.
I pulled the wires with judge and jury,
And the upper courts, to beat the claims
Of the crippled, the widow and orphan,
And made a fortune thereat.
The bar association sang my praises
In a high-flown resolution.
And the floral tributes were many—
But the rats devoured my heart
And a snake made a nest in my skull!

Published in Spoon River Anthology
Tags:

Any corrections or public domain poems I should have here? Email me at poems (at) this domain.