Page:Hermione and her little group of serious thinkers (1923, c1916).djvu/69

 Hermione Alas! Why is there never a fourth color?

Poppies, poppies, poppies, but no Green Poppy!

I asked the little crippled girl who sells poppies to buy bread for the drunken father who beats her,

And she said, &quot;I, too, seek the fourth color!&quot;

I asked the boy who drives the grocer s delivery wagon, the old apple woman without teeth, the morgue keeper, the plumber, the janitor, the red-armed waffle baker in the window of a restaurant full of marble-topped tables and pallid-looking girls, the subway guard and the millionaire,

And they all said,

&quot;Poppies, poppies, poppies,

We have never known but three colors!&quot;

I am a Great Virile Spirit;

I, with my Ego,

I will give the world its Desire !

I, the strong!

I, the daring!

I will create a Green Poppy!

That about being Virile is just like Fothy! He prides himself on being Virile, you know—poor, dear Fothy!

He said until he saw me he had always been satisfied with silver and red and black poppies, but [55]