THIS POEM IS NOT PRESENTED AS I INTENDED (ie. DOUBLE SPACED).
THIS HAS BEEN DONE BY PERSONS BEYOND MY CONTROL
THUS DIMINISHING THE READING EXPERIENCE.
🙈
As I was out, about, one day
I met the strangest man;
We talked of things, of wax and kings
As he, his tale began.
He said he was a carpenter
But looked so fine and grand,
Sporting walrus whiskers
And walking cane to hand.
He told me of his lifetime,
Five hundred years or more;
He said that I knew nothing,
Was wasted heretofore.
He said he\'d speak a riddle
Before he\'d by your leave,
I\'d never glean the answer
Just so long as I may breathe.
\'Tis round a dish as ever known
And white as snow the look of it;
There\'s food and life for all mankind
But no man ere partook of it.
If I should solve this puzzle
I\'d walk away scot-free;
If not, the devil take my soul,
And steal away with me.
He laughed and said he had me,
That I was soundly beat;
And oh, so soon I\'d walk with him ~
The archfiend for to meet.
But he\'d not know what made me grow
All those years by-go;
He figured wrong what made me strong
And made my lifeblood flow.
His laughing face would turn to stone
He\'d see his ruse I\'d bilk;
And answer his conundrum when
I whispered \"Mother\'s milk\".
ASJ