Poem #29 of National Poetry Month. This evening I went and returned a sleeping bag and camping pad that I borrowed nearly three years ago from a very generous and patient friend. It made me in mind of that great quote from Polonius in Hamlet Act 1 scene iii. This is for you Syrinda, thank you!

Deferred Taxes

Never a borrower or lender be

When you borrow you can pay great fees

And lending can lead you round the bend

Especially, if that person is a friend

They take the thing they needed most

And keep it with no regard to the host

You are wondering if that thing is now toast?

Or been lent out to some unknown source?

But of course, you try to have trust

In those that you love the most

When you need a thing

And put out a general cry

It is amazing the replies

Those are closest often

Do not respond

And those you know

A bit, see fit

To lend you their most precious

Or treasured thing

Not box or bag,

But a ring

Or antique going back generations

From the fathers of this nation

We borrow and lend

To friends and friends of friends

Now where are we?

On an apparent spending spree

That we cannot borrow more

And those lending days are through

This is the main issue

If not to be one who needs or charges fees

Then who shall we be?

The future is murky

Look at countries like Turkey

Greece and Ireland

Who have tried to be better men

Yet are like Rabbit trying

with all his relatives and relations

to unblock that door

Pooh Bear had to lose weight

Before he could get out of that scrape

I wonder what will happen to our state

Traveling at this rapid rate

Digging our own inevitable fate

I really cannot relate

To what the government does or purposes

As I haven’t chosen

To get on this ride with them

They are men who

Defend a system that is broken

And so few have spoken

About the justice of money

The future of this land

How can we expand our thinking?

We are sinking

This is stinking

More and more

They cannot ignore

The people who struggle

I wish they knew

How much we need

A common man

To take a stand

And understand making a solid plan

Lending less and borrowing less

To get us out of this mess!

That is what seems best

To quote a great mind

To be kind

To thy own self be true

But to borrow nothing

And lend nothing

I think could be quite shrewd