The After-Dinner Speech

He wrote an after-dinner speech,

     His pulses were aglow;

He carried it all safe and sound

Until his chance should come around,

     But that was years ago.

Each time he was invited out

     His speech it went also;

His hand was on his broad expanse

Just waiting, hoping for a chance,

     But that was years ago.

His dinners out came thick and fast,

     He should have had a show;

But still that after-dinner speech

Lay dormant, just within his reach,

     And that was years ago.

The speech grew stale; and so he wrote

     A fresh one, don’t you know;

He placed it where the other lay,

But it remained the same old way,

     And that was years ago.

He knew his speech would make a hit

     If he could have a show;

Alas! Toastmasters dull and blind

Were ever and anon unkind,

     So many years ago.

And so the years have come and gone,

     His steps are weak and slow;

But still he has within his reach

That aged, after-dinner speech,

     Just waiting for a show.

Feb. 9, ‘10