26. The Interne by Maxwell Bodenheim. Monroe, Harriet, ed. 1917. The New Poetry: An Anthology

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.

26. The Interne

By Maxwell Bodenheim


OH, the agony of having too much power!
In my passive palm are hundreds of lives.
Strange alchemy!—they drain my blood:
My heart becomes iron; my brain copper; my eyes silver; my lips brass.
Merely by twitching a supple finger, I twirl lives from me—strong-winged,	5
Or fluttering and broken.
They are my children, I am their mother and father.
I watch them live and die.