Death & Dying
Penniwit, the Artist
From Spoon River Anthology (1916)
Death & Dying
I lost my patronage in Spoon River
From trying to put my mind in the camera
To catch the soul of the person.
The very best picture I ever took
Was of Judge Somers, attorney at law.
He sat upright and had me pause
Till he got his cross-eye straight.
Then when he was ready he said “all right.”
And I yelled “overruled” and his eye turned up.
And I caught him just as he used to look
When saying “I except.”
Cite this poem
MLA
Masters, Edgar Lee. “Penniwit, the Artist.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/masters/105/.
Chicago
Masters, Edgar Lee. “Penniwit, the Artist.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/masters/105/.
Read this poem with the Codex →