I came across this poem recently which Esther wrote for my birthday a few years ago. With its stern, but timely, moral, I thought I should share it with as many people as I can. You’ll be glad to know that it was just the nudge I needed to mend my ways in time before financial ruin was upon us.
Just time to post this before my poker cronies arrive…
A MORALITY TALE
Archie was a piano teacher,
a fine upstanding fellow creature.
He used to have a busy life,
sharing all with son and wife.
That’s until he had a seizure
and was taken o’er by feature…
…film became his meat and drink
till his mind was on the brink.
Started calling his wife ‘hon;’
‘Junior’ he named his son.
Things had got to such a pitch
that he found no time to teach.
Soon a shortfall came of money;
things were really not so funny.
But still he sat before the screen
never missing any scene.
Wife and son were now forgot –
did he miss them? Not a lot.
But still he sat on that settee,
only leaving it to ***
Then the furnishings were sold;
even that left him quite cold.
Just as long as there was stock
of DVDs, nothing could shock.
Westerns, comedies and thrillers;
drama, horror – (these last, fillers),
He was hooked and lined and sunk;
he was what you call ‘film drunk.’
I think that you have got the picture;
on that couch he was a fixture.
I wish that I this tale could tell
with the ending – all is well.
But even on thirteenth December,
birthday he did not remember,
did not out one candle blow.
How could a man have sunk so low?
If a moral here you seek
to avoid this future bleak:
even if you have a passion,
you must put in on a ration.
If you’re tempted to excess,
go for just a little less.
Remember that poor fallen creature,
Archie, the piano teacher.
Esther Cohen