Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE ALIBI by FAIRFAX DOWNEY

First Line: GWENDOLYN / HAS NOT BEEN IN
Last Line: "I LIKE IT AND IT KEEPS ME THIN."
Subject(s): SMOKING; WOMEN; TOBACCO; PIPES; CIGARS; CIGARETTES;
Gwendolyn
Has not been in
For half an hour. I'd like to bet
She ducked to smoke a cigarette.
We went to call her in. @3"Gwendolyn!"@1

"Gwendolyn,
Time you're in."
She's ignorant of discipline.
She doesn't seem to mind her kin.
Still Gwendolyn
Was not within.

Gwendolyn
Came slipping in
As if she'd been out for a spin.
We all ran up to her. "Gwendolyn!
Where have you been?
Where have you been?
You've been out smoking. Why, Gwendolyn!"
"Sillies," she said. "It's not a sin.
I like it and it keeps me thin."



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