Mildred Plew Merryman. Old Folk. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

Old Folk

By Mildred Plew Merryman


TWO old women live in our street:
One is sour and the other is sweet.

Here is a secret hid in youth:
Young lips and eyes may mask the truth,

But wrinkled faces hold the print—	5
Coins they are that speak their mint.

Youth is a spicy potpourri—
None may guess what the contents be;

But old folk all must come to an hour
When they turn quite plainly sweet or sour.	10