O Henry: When the cows come home

William Sidney Porter, known by the pseudonym O. Henry, turned to writing while incarcerated to raise money for his family. The majority of his works were short stories, often humorous tales. On occasion, however, he also wrote poetry.

Not all of his poems include the wit of his short prose. His poem "Looking Forward," dated November 3, 1895, is a harmless and fun poem that experiments a bit with form in its repeated phrases "when (till) the cows come home":
 

Soft shadows grow deeper in dingle and dell,
  Night hawks are beginning to roam;
The breezes are cooler; the owl is awake,
The whippoorwill calls from his nest in the brake;
When
            the
                    cows
                              come
                                        home.

The cup of the lily is heavy with dew;
  In heaven's aerial dome
Stars twinkle; and down in the darkening swamp
The fireflies glow, and the elves are a-romp;
When
            the
                    cows
                              come
                                        home.

And the populist smiles when he thinks of the time
  That unto his party will come;
When at the pie counter they capture a seat,
And they'll eat and eat and eat and eat
Till
            the
                    cows
                              come
                                        home.

The poem was published in the Houston Daily Post while Henry was employed as a columnist there. It was a role he held for less than a year.