Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE BUSINESS CHANGES HANDS, by DANIEL MACINTYRE HENDERSON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BUSINESS CHANGES HANDS, by                    
First Line: The business changes hands; accountants come
Last Line: "his god writes down: ""your pay will terminate----"
Subject(s): Mystery


The business changes hands; accountants come
To scrutinize the books and search the files.
Disturbing rumours through the office hum:
Mysterious, keen-eyed men stroll down the aisles.

Department heads, whose places are in doubt,
Pursue their duties with unworried faces,
As if to say that if they are let out
They know where they can go to better places.

But Billingslea, a plodding under-clerk,
Wonders if he is slated for discharge,
And pales before the spectre Out of Work,
And tries to make his occupation large.

Night falls; desks close; his comrades homeward fare;
He stays and toils in bribery to fate,
Hoping approving glances come from where
His god writes down: "Your pay will terminate----"





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