Upton Sinclair, ed. (1878–1968). rn The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest. 1915.
The Tail of the WorldJohn Amid
(Contemporary American poet)T
With an angry tooth, and a biting nail;
And she’s headed the way that she ought not to go
For the Lord he designed and decreed her so.
While she’s headed sou-west, toward the nor-nor-east;
God made the beast, and he drew the plan,
And he left the bulk of the haul to man.
Took hold of the tail, as the logical handle;
Got a last good drink, and a bite of bread,
And pulled till the blood ran into his head.
But then the beast crawled back an inch;
And ever since then it’s been Nip and Tuck,
Sometimes moving, but oftener stuck.
Sweating nobly, and swearing aloud.
Yet sometimes a single man could land
A good rough jerk, or a hand-over-hand.
Homer and Dante—they each pulled some!
Bill Schopenhauer’s foot slipped, rank,
While Shakespeare, he fetched her a horrible yank.
Often scratched, and sometimes bit,
And the men who were mauled, or laid out cold,
Were the very ones with the strangle hold.
But the Lord he designed and decreed it so.
Of course he knew that the game was no cinch,
So he gave man some trifles to help in a pinch.
“Lay hold of something, and pull till you’re dead!”
Another, that can’t be translated as well,
Was, “Le’ go my tail—and go to Hell!”
Was the fine sensation that paid man back;
For the finest feeling that’s been unfurled
Is the feel of the fur on the tail of the world!