Said Thoreau's nagging, <br />Screaming wife, <br />'What makes you think <br />Your boring life <br />Is so important <br />To be writ down? <br />All you do <br />Is lay around <br />Like any lazy <br />Bum in town.' <br /> <br />Said Thoreau <br />To his screaming wife, <br />'Each man's lot <br />Of mortal strife <br />Is worth the record <br />Of a page...' <br /> <br />But then she answered <br />In a rage, <br />'All you do is <br />Sit and write! <br />You keep me up <br />Half the night! <br />But you're sooo smart... <br />You're soooo bright. <br />You're good for nothing! <br />Ma was right! <br />We have no friends, <br />No furniture; <br />You say I'm dumb <br />And immature? <br />You sit around <br />And watch the trees, <br />You're watching ants <br />Ass up on knees! <br />And all you want <br />Is to have your sex; <br />And then you wonder <br />Why I'm vexed? <br />We live like tramps... <br />This shanty house! <br />I'm not your whore, <br />You queer church mouse! <br />You're like your father, <br />That useless bum, <br />I know the seed <br />From which you're sprung! <br />You dream and dream <br />The day away: <br />Why can't you work? <br />Oh, go away! ' <br /> <br />Said Thoreau, <br />Grabbing for her hand, <br />'Please try and listen, <br />Understand; <br />Not wealth nor jewels <br />Nor property <br />Defines a soul's <br />Prosperity; <br />A kind and loving <br />Family life, <br />Makes kings of men <br />And queens of wife.' <br /> <br />'So you say <br />With your flowery words, <br />Oh, we should live <br />Just like the birds! <br />Well, I'm a stupid <br />Human being! <br />I want new clothes, <br />Commands your Queen! ' <br /> <br />By a candle <br />Late at night, <br />By the dim <br />And flickering light, <br />In his Journal <br />Thoreau writes: <br /> <br />'Socrates, poor and harried, <br />Was never bored <br />Because he married; <br />Such a mind <br />Questioned Gods; <br />Oh, the uses of <br />A mind at odds! '<br /><br />David McLansky<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/said-thoreau-s-nagging-screaming-wife/
