| Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Smoke and Steel. 1922. |
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| VIII. Circles of Doors |
| 16. Testimony Regarding a Ghost |
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| THE ROSES slanted crimson sobs | |
| On the night sky hair of the women, | |
| And the long light-fingered men | |
| Spoke to the dark-haired women, | |
| “Nothing lovelier, nothing lovelier.” | 5 |
| How could he sit there among us all | |
| Guzzling blood into his guts, | |
| Goblets, mugs, buckets— | |
| Leaning, toppling, laughing | |
| With a slobber on his mouth, | 10 |
| A smear of red on his strong raw lips, | |
| How could he sit there | |
| And only two or three of us see him? | |
| There was nothing to it. | |
| He wasn’t there at all, of course. | 15 |
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| The roses leaned from the pots. | |
| The sprays snot roses gold and red | |
| And the roses slanted crimson sobs | |
| In the night sky hair | |
| And the voices chattered on the way | 20 |
| To the frappe, speaking of pictures, | |
| Speaking of a strip of black velvet | |
| Crossing a girlish woman’s throat, | |
| Speaking of the mystic music flash | |
| Of pots and sprays of roses, | 25 |
| “Nothing lovelier, nothing lovelier.” | |
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