Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.
Dolly ParkerMargretta Scott
From “Side-lights on War”
F
Always she was dated up for weeks ahead;
Always she wore flowers and fraternity pins
And rings and bangles
That men had given her.
She was the most rushed at all the dances,
Her telephone rang the oftenest,
The postman brought her the most letters.
The picture shows, the drug stores, knew her.
On summer nights her hammock swung gently;
On winter nights the lamps were low in her parlor.
As a man gambles,
She flirted.
And as a strong wind sweeps the street of dead leaves,
The town was swept of men.
There were no telephone calls and no flowers;
The hammock was still, the lamps turned-low had no meaning.
She couldn’t compete with her rival—
She couldn’t compete with War.