Tom Merritt tells his own story from beyond the grave. He had grown suspicious of the woman he loved—she seemed too calm and distant—and then he caught a man slipping out the back door and running across the field. From then on, he meant to kill him on sight. Yet when the moment comes near Fourth Bridge, Tom has no weapon, and the other man stands there terrified, holding his rabbits. Tom’s rage collapses; all he can say is “Don’t, Don’t, Don’t” as the man shoots him in the heart. The mood is bitter and ironic: jealousy sets a killing in motion, but the speaker ends up defenseless, pleading with the very man he once planned to murder.
Tom Merritt — Summary
At first I suspected something— She acted so calm and absent-minded. And one day I heard the back door shut As I entered the front, and I saw him slink Back of the smokehouse into the lot And run across the field. And I meant to kill him on sight. But that day, walking near Fourth Bridge Without a stick or a stone at hand, All of a sudden I saw him standing Scared to death, holding his rabbits, And all I could say was, “Don’t, Don’t, Don’t,” As he aimed and fired at my heart.