Oh! Friend! Do Not Twist Your Knife So Hard!

You might kill me!
No! No! That hurts!
Don't twist it thus!

Oh! Friend,
Why do you thrust it
There?

That is where
My stomach is.

Ah! My liver!
Please! Forebear!

Stop!
Oh!

Do not push
Your knife
So deeply
Into me.

I fear you've
Pierced my heart.
Look! You have got
Blood on your shirt!

Now see what you've done.
Because of my death,
Our friendship will cease,
And politeness too!



by Robert Hampton Burt           main page