A Ballad of Dead Girls
By Dana Burnet
(American poet, born 1888)
Scarce had they brought the bodies down
Across the withered floor,
Than Max Rogosky thundered at
The District Leader's door.
Scarce had the white-lipped mothers come
To search the fearful noon,
Than little Max stood shivering
In Tom McTodd's saloon!
In Tom McTodd's saloon he stood,
Beside the silver bar,
Where any honest lad may stand,
And sell his vote at par.
"Ten years I've paid the System's tax,"
The words fell, quivering, raw;
"And now I want the thing I bought—
Protection from the law!"
The Leader smiled a twisted smile:
"Your doors were locked," he said.
"You've overstepped the limit, Max—
A hundred women . . . dead!"
Then Max Rogosky gripped the bar
And shivered where he stood.
"You listen now to me," he cried,
"Like business fellers should!
