‘Neither a borrower nor a lender be; for loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.’
Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3 by Shakespeare
That $100 you wanted to borrow~
Forget it, I don’t want my edge dulled!!!!!
At first, Henry did not grasp a thing:
The look in Sam’s eyes at that moment.
Was it trying to some warning bell ring
And its stark rebuff reward with ailment?
In it Henry sensed, at last, full danger
At mood’s good study not a full stranger…
There was a drowning man in Sam’s eyes
While he held out a challenging take-prize
“Yeah, you love who says business and means it:
They’re the ones you may trust every minute…”
“And shoots him who stays long with my big cash:
For there are banks in which I could it stash.”
It is a business truth
And transformer of lenders into Ruth
Who have been infamous Shylock
Or a hesitant safe with lock ...
A borrower to soften his voice
And watch its magic
By far more helpful than a cobra’s poise
Or Insistent Logic;
A lender’s lost key to his savings booth
Quietly warranting a hammer or Jaguar’s tooth
The voice of the badly broke
When penury has begun to choke
Should be often tender
To the rescuing lender
The broke an unconditional blender
For the service lender has to render.
chameleon's hide
borrower on running spree
lender in distress
Collaborative Poetry…
give me a break
Words borrowed or lent,
the Muse to abate
What’s not in your memory,
what’s not in your soul
Can never be bartered, rented
—or sold
(Bryn Mawr College: February, 2020)
The past is left in mourning,
the future still unknown
The present disavows them both,
not borrowed—never loaned
(Dreamsleep: August, 2019)
Is my awareness limited by my bad habits?
Within the absence of engine sounds I find time to sigh
I should be searching for the cultivators of my net dreams
Instead I’m buying paper for the books I plan to write
What the heck? It could be my awareness is limited
I feel echo chills from out of all the walls
The gradual sacrifice of my solo man
I’m nailed to my nickels and dimes
I make all of my skillful errors
while pounding on Sunday keyboards
Anonymously meeting in interstellar coffee shops
limits defining my unlimited choices
So I play Louis Armstrong
pondering the reason for words
These words borrowed from his titles
I feel the echo chills pounding like rain
This requires no sacrifice
I’m paying for nothing
I removed his Debit card from the table
It could be one more of those bad habits!
I was inspired to write this piece after reading some of “Sand Blown’s” poems. I found the title names to be intriguing so I used them to knit this piece together. Please join me in welcoming a talented new poet.
Sun Bank is lending light loans,
To it's Moon borrower,
Moon is not repaying,
Sun is not demanding,
But,
Issuing fresh loans in grace!
Borrower,
Borrowing appettite;
Increasing gradually.
Weary to live within means.
Handcap of saving culture;
Hand-to mouth disposition.
Lender connives with bailiff!
chipepo lwele
NEITHER A BORROWER NOR LENDER BE
Because lending to friend may lose you that friend:
If he cannot repay and feels indebted, his burden is double:
How to be independent is what he needs to learn ;
And borrowing for myself discourages me to think of the end:
And such sloppy thinking will land me in trouble -
Thinking there is no need to save or plan or even earn.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Entered in Walayee’s Contest FAVORITE QUOTE
Never a borrower nor a lender be
That is my simple philosophy
But if the need you can’t resist
Borrow money from a pessimist
A positive attitude they sadly lack
So they don’t really expect it back
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