A Turkey’s Lament

1898

Anon

The Chicago Inter Ocean; reprinted in The Quincy Daily Ledger, 23rd Dec 1898, p. 4

Ah, distinctly I remember—

It was only last November

That they chased me through the back yard

And across the old barn floor!

Valiantly and well I fought me

Till at last the villains caught me

And proceeded then to trot me

To the ax beside the door;

But, ashamed, they let me go, for

I was bones and nothing more—

Skin and bones and nothing more.

Now, I see it is December,

And no doubt they will dismember

Me, for all my fatter friends

Have gone to that other shore;

I’ve grown pale from apprehension,

For of late some marked attention

Makes me think it’s their intention

To cut off my legs and serve me

As a reedbird from the store—

Just a reedbird, nothing more!

Return to the Quaint and Curious index for more pastiches and parodies of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”.