He Struck Me!

HE struck me!
A man I scarce knew, ‘though he had
my name,
Came into my office repeating the same,
And talked for a moment of this and of that;
Remarked that he thought I was putting on fat;
Referred to the weather, repeated a tale
That I laughed at because ’twas exceedingly stale,
And then when I said: ‘I am busy today,
Whatever you’ve come for I wish you would say;’
He struck me.

He struck me!
He struck me without any reason at all,
For a second I staggered and thought I should fall;
This stranger who’d asked of the health of my wife,
My cousins and aunts, and had picked up my knife
To manicure nicely his finger nails, while
He used up my time in his own breezy style;
But I said: ‘Make it short. I am busy;’ and then
He struck me—
Yes, boldly he struck me—for ten!