I guess folks think I'm mighty dumb <br /> Since Jack and Jim and Joe <br />Have hit the trail to Kingdom Come <br /> And left me here below: <br />Since Death, the bastard, bowled them out, <br /> And left me faced with--Doubt. <br /> <br />My pals have all passed out on me <br /> And I am by my lone; <br />Old Bill was last, and now I see <br /> His name cut on a stone; <br />A marble slab, but not as fine <br /> As I have picked for mine. <br /> <br />I nurse and curse rheumatic pain <br /> As on the porch I sit; <br />With nothing special in my brain <br /> I rock and smoke and spit: <br />When one is nearing to the end <br /> One sorely needs a friend. <br /> <br />My Pals have gone,--in God's good earth <br /> I guess they're packed up snug, <br />And since I have no guts for mirth <br /> I zipper to my mug: <br />The question that I ponder on <br /> Is--where the heck they've gone?<br /><br />Robert William Service<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/old-bob/
