by Dorothy Parker
I think that I shall never know
Why am I thus, and I am so.
Around me, other girls inspire
In men the roar and rush of fire,
The sweet transparency of glass,
The tenderness of April grass,
The durability of granite;
But me - I don't know how to plan it.
The lads I've met in Cupid's deadlock
Were - shall we say - born out of wedlock.
They broke my heart, they stilled my song
And said they had to run along,
Explaining, so to sop my tears,
First came their parents or careers.
But ever does experience
Deny me wisdom, calm and sense!
Though she's a fool who seeks to capture
The twenty-first fine, careless rapture,
I must go on, till ends my rope,
Who was from my birth was cursed with hope.
A heart in half is chaste, archaic;
But mine resembles a mosaic -
The thing's become ridiculous!
Why am I so? Why am I thus?
Robin's Nest 