Enoch DunlapHow many times, during the twenty yearsI was your leader, friends of Spoon River,Did you neglect the convention and caucus,And leave the burden on my handsOf guarding and saving the people’s cause?—Sometimes because you were ill;Or your grandmother was ill;Or you drank too much and fell asleep;Or else you said: “He is our leader,All will be well; he fights for us;We have nothing to do but follow.”But oh, how you cursed me when I fell,And cursed me, saying I had betrayed you,In leaving the caucus room for a moment,When the people’s enemies, there assembled,Waited and watched for a chance to destroyThe Sacred Rights of the People.You common rabble! I left the caucusTo go to the urinal.
How many times, during the twenty yearsI was your leader, friends of Spoon River,Did you neglect the convention and caucus,And leave the burden on my handsOf guarding and saving the people’s cause?—Sometimes because you were ill;Or your grandmother was ill;Or you drank too much and fell asleep;Or else you said: “He is our leader,All will be well; he fights for us;We have nothing to do but follow.”But oh, how you cursed me when I fell,And cursed me, saying I had betrayed you,In leaving the caucus room for a moment,When the people’s enemies, there assembled,Waited and watched for a chance to destroyThe Sacred Rights of the People.You common rabble! I left the caucusTo go to the urinal.