Walter Simmons

My parents thought that I would be         As great as Edison or greater:         For as a boy I made balloons         And wondrous kites and toys with clocks         And little engines with tracks to run on         And telephones of cans and thread.         I played the cornet and painted pictures,         Modeled in clay and took the part         Of the villain in the "Octoroon."         But then at twenty - one I married         And had to live, and so, to live         I learned the trade of making watches         And kept the jewelry store on the square,         Thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking, -         Not of business, but of the engine         I studied the calculus to build.         And all Spoon River watched and waited         To see it work, but it never worked.         And a few kind souls believed my genius         Was somehow hampered by the store.         It wasn't true.         The truth was this:         I did not have the brains.