Lest Sympathy Function

In enviable kitchens

With everything so handy

And white

And clean,

They turn a knob, the motor hums, and down

goes an all-inclusiveness that won't clog

the pipes.

So that "the working class should take care

of its own,"

Without garbage-grinders,

Often without plumbing-

On the other side of the railroad tracks.

So that respectable folks

Need not shudder

At glimpse of furtive forms outside;

Not undergo the peril

Of spoiling themselves with vulgar sympathies ;

Not lie sleepless

With fat-hearted conscience-flutterings

Haunted by the wolves from Rooseville.

So that some night-prowler won't get shoulder wedged

in a tall can, become panicky, rear upright

beneath it, run wild unseeingly, bumping into

things, through the doorpane, crashing, crashing,

yeow, won't come crashing into a nice bridge

party perhaps!

So that the trend historical'

Be not swerved

At this late hour.