WHY I MOVED TO THE FARM

The paving tax come due in front,
The sewer in the rear
And ad valorem, plenty high
Was once or twice a year;
Fire insurance on the house'
A policy on my life
Monthly premiums for each child
And quarterly on my wife;
Electric light bills due the first,
The water and the gas,
The telephone, the Building Loan~
Ye gods, how time can pass;
Installments on the auto,
"Note due" the banker's letter said~
Lord, I was feeling might blue
For I was in the "red",
The teacher wrote, "Your children need
Some paper and some books,"
The Beauty parlor send a bill
For aiding daughter's looks'
I tried to keep appearance up
And bravely onward plunge
But duns and bills came in so fast
That I threw up on the sponge.

^© O. E. Enfield