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Ethical Jack and the Beanstalk

When young Jack for a handful of beans swapped their cow,
It upset his poor mother who said with a scowl,
"What possessed you to make such a terrible trade?
For our milk-giving Guernsey so little be paid?"

When she'd gone, Jack proceeded to all the beans sow
In a single, small hole with the hope they would grow.

After breakfast next morning, he walked out the door
And encountered an object he'd not seen before--
A gigantic, green beanstalk as high as the sky.
The long climb to its top he decided to try.

Tired and aching, he found on a cloud fast asleep
Snoring giant with goose he was tempted to keep
For beside it were eggs it had laid of pure gold.
But to steal would be wrong, he by conscience was told.

Leaving goose, he descended the stalk to its roots
Where awaited hysterical strangers in suits
Who waved checkbooks and shouted what price was required
For the purchase of stalk all their bosses desired.

When the check that could thousands of dairy farms buy
He to mother conveyed, he received this reply,
"What a clever, remarkable son I have got!"
And they happily afterwards lived on his yacht.

While the miracle beanstalk continues to sway
As the world's tallest cellular tower today.

Copyright © Richard Thomas

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Book: Reflection on the Important Things