I was sick, but more than that, I was mad br At the crooked police, and the crooked game of life. br So I wrote to the Chief of Police at Peoria: br "I am here in my girlhood home in Spoon River, br Gradually wasting away. br But come and take me, I killed the son br Of the merchant prince, in Madam Lou's, br And the papers that said he killed himself br In his home while cleaning a hunting gun -- br Lied like the devil to hush up scandal, br For the bribe of advertising. br In my room I shot him, at Madam Lou's, br Because he knocked me down when I said br That, in spite of all the money he had, br I'd see my lover that night.