CLERK, corresponding,
“Rooster and Comb”,
Here I sit idle
“Thinking of home”;
I must be grafting-
Living to earn,
More correspondence,
“Write by return.”
Clerk in employ of
“Shoddy and Woods”,
Thinks that we have not
Forwarded goods.
Parcel we sent them-
Missing, I learn,
Says in his postscript:
“Write by return.”
Here is another
Letter from Bland-
“Cheque he expected
Isn’t to hand.”
How we forgot it
Cannot discern,
“Forward remittance,
Write by return.”
Here is another-
O how they come?
Treats of a “Bender”
Planned by a chum.
See on the margin,
Big letters: “Burn
After perusal-
Write by return.”
Mail in from England,
Letters for me-
Dear little sweetheart
Over the sea.
“Quite broken-hearted,
O how I yearn
Only to see you. . . .
Write by return.”
One who will “never
Think that I’m bad”
Writes me a letter
Tearful and sad.
Thinks that I’m starving,
Filled with concern,
Sends me some money-
“Write by return.”
Letter from father,
Sent to his son,
“All is forgiven-
Fat calf for one.”
O that I ever
Thought he was stern-
Money for passage-
Write by return.
(Henry Lawson)
More Poetry from Henry Lawson:
Henry Lawson Poems based on Topics: Home, Sadness, Mind, Sons, Money & Wealth, Education, Thought & Thinking, Fathers, England, Letters, Learning- Ruth (Henry Lawson Poems)
- Mostly Slavonic (Henry Lawson Poems)
- With Dickens (Henry Lawson Poems)
- One Hundred and Three (Henry Lawson Poems)
- The Ballad of the Elder Son (Henry Lawson Poems)
- Brighten's Sister-In-Law [or The Carrier's Story] (Henry Lawson Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Mind Poems, Sadness Poems, Thought & Thinking Poems, Home Poems, Money & Wealth Poems, Sons Poems, Education Poems, Fathers Poems, Learning Poems, Letters Poems, England PoemsBased on Keywords: shoddy, correspondence, grafting, corresponding, postscript, perusal, bender, forwarded, remittance