| Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Smoke and Steel. 1922. |
| |
| II. People Who Must |
| 3. Eleventh Avenue Racket |
| |
| THERE is something terrible | |
| about a hurdy-gurdy, | |
| a gipsy man and woman, | |
| and a monkey in red flannel | |
| all stopping in front of a big house | 5 |
| with a sign “For Rent” on the door | |
| and the blinds hanging loose | |
| and nobody home. | |
| I never saw this. | |
| I hope to God I never will. | 10 |
| |
| Whoop-de-doodle-de-doo. | |
| Hoodle-de-harr-de-hum. | |
| Nobody home? Everybody home. | |
| Whoop-de-doodle-de-doo. | |
| |
| Mamie Riley married Jimmy Higgins last night: Eddie Jones died of whooping cough: George Hacks got a job on the police force: the Rosenheims bought a brass bed: Lena Hart giggled at a jackie: a pushcart man called tomaytoes, tomaytoes. | 15 |
| Whoop-de-doodle-de-doo. | |
| Hoodle-de-harr-de-hum. | |
| Nobody home? Everybody home. | |
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