Murphy’s Distress

One never knows when disaster
Will strike, and acting Fire Chief
James Murphy, unable to master
His nerves, often sighed in grief
At the ticking clock. Every moment …
Now? So when Chief Collins went
To the convention in San Francisco,
Murphy sat and waited for a blow
To be struck by malicious Fate.
Waiting, but hardly ready—
Fear was becoming one long, steady
Drag off an opium pipe. Great
Men find their destiny in a split
Second; Murphy quailed and quit.