Mike Foster

Mike Foster

“In life I was

the town drunkard”

—Edgar Lee Masters

“Chase Henry,”

Spoon River Anthology

_______________________

In life I was the town drunkard—

I was born in Cottonwood Falls 

And Emporia was my home,

But when I died the minister

Of the Faith Lutheran Church,

Tom Bird, denied me a grave,

Saying that Maplewood Cemetery

Didn’t deserve a drunk like me,

But after the good Reverend done

Murdered his wife & went to bed

With his church secretary, that’s

When all the prudent crosscurrents

Of the wise old Cottonwood River

Confluenced and joined together

Making my life not look so bad