The Lines that Failed

“Why don’t you write some touching verse?”

     My boss once said to me;

“Don’t always aim for mirth, but write

     Some touching verse,” quoth he.

And so I took my pen in hand,

     And scratched my waning hair,

And tried to write some touching verse,

     Till I was in despair.

I sat and burned the midnight oil,

     The hours they came and went;

At length I got the verse in shape,

     And this is what I sent:

“Dear sir: My needs are many fold,

     A friend in need is meet;

Could you please loan me twenty-five,

     Till I get on my feet?”

Alas! They never saw the light,

     He later wrote me thus:

“Your lines have failed to touch me, sir,

     Indeed, they’re humorous.”

Jan. 28, ‘10