Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE HABIT, by BERTON BRALEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE HABIT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Millarkey purchased a gramaphone
Last Line: At a dollar down and a dollar-a-week.
Subject(s): Cowboys; Ranch Life; Wandering & Wanderers; West (u.s.); Wanderlust; Vagabonds; Tramps; Hoboes; Southwest; Pacific States


Millarkey purchased a gramaphone
At a dollar down and a dollar-a-week.
Said he, "It's the easiest graft I've known,
This dollar down and a dollar-a-week."

So he bought him a rug and a fountain pen,
And a leather chair and a desk and then
A set of "Lives of Our Famous Men,"
At a dollar down and a dollar-a-week.

Then he bought a hat and a suit and shoes
At a dollar down and a dollar-a-week.
And he joined a club where he paid his dues
With a dollar down and a dollar-a-week.

And he got a ring, which was fair to see,
For the lily hand of his bride-to-be,
And he married and paid the minister's fee,
With a dollar down and a dollar-a-week.

When the babies came the doctors got
A dollar down and a dollar-a-week.
And Millarkey clothed and fed each tot
For a dollar down and a dollar-a-week.

So, week by week he lived, until
A ripe old age. Then he died; but still
His widow's paying the funeral bill
At a dollar down and a dollar-a-week.





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