This Is It

When Lincoln Ordinance Depot closed down after World War II, staff were issued termination letters. As Comptroller, Howard B. Austin was one of the last to leave, and he wrote this after receiving his letter of termination.

I've had a lot of letters
In my long three score and three;
Some told their story short and sweet,
Some tinged with mystery;
But today I have a message,
It really is a champ.
Reads like Congressional Record,
Nor does it bear a stamp.

It started out, "In View Of",
Then big words flowing free;
I wondered, "What the Hell Bill",
That they'd addressed to me.
It quoted dates from then to now,
Mentioned "Deactivation",
"Abolishment of this and that",
And "Scheduled Liquidations".

Seven years ago it took three words
To tell me "You are Hired";
But now, they write a page or two
To say, "Bud You Are Fired".
I won't be really on my own
'Til December twenty-eight;
Then, if there's not another war,
I'm due to "Get The Gate".

They'll pay to me my salary
To December nine, that's clear;
Yet, I'll be drawing money
To the ending of the year.
Up to the ninth, that's understood,
I'll work, come rain or snow;
But from the ninth to the twenty-eighth
I'm drawing my own dough.

By: H. B. Austin