| Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Smoke and Steel. 1922. |
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| VIII. Circles of Doors |
| 11. They Buy With an Eye to Looks |
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| THE FINE cloth of your love might be a fabric of Egypt, | |
| Something Sinbad, the sailor, took away from robbers, | |
| Something a traveler with plenty of money might pick up | |
| And bring home and stick on the walls and say: | |
| “There’s a little thing made a hit with me | 5 |
| When I was in Cairo—I think I must see Cairo again some day.” | |
| So there are cornice manufacturers, chewing gum kings, | |
| Young Napoleons who corner eggs or corner cheese, | |
| Phenoms looking for more worlds to corner, | |
| And still other phenoms who lard themselves in | 10 |
| And make a killing in steel, copper, permanganese, | |
| And they say to random friends in for a call: | |
| “Have you had a look at my wife? Here she is. | |
| Haven’t I got her dolled up for fair?” | |
| O-ee! the fine cloth of your love might be a fabric of Egypt. | 15 |
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