“LES CRUCHES CASSÉES”

Even old sofas can be reupholstered,

Covered with chintz that blinks with dragon’s eyes;

Worm-eaten chairs that tell too many lies

May yet be painted, puttied, somehow bolstered;

A rickety piano has a tuner

To plink it back to musical surprise;

And frugal housewives, strictly pennywise,

Cement burst jugs and make them healthy sooner.

But where’s the tinker-devil who will clout

Our cracked-up selves till they hold love once more?

Oh you can smooth your curlylocks, no doubt!

Look what a mess we’ve made on Life’s clean floor!

You can’t patch leaky clay. There are no cures.

And it was your fault, yours! “No, yours!” Yours! “Yours!