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Saw him in whiteface, crying at the bar –
a stricken mime craves wine.
Like the man at the bottle shop says,
“A good sample is the best bourbon.”
Early to bed, early to rise
and home by three.
Tell me what I forget.
Touch me and I surrender.
Involve me and I turn state’s evidence.
I told old Ben to go flight a kite
and he became an enlightened sage.
* * *
The king of the adages, Poor Richard was just begging to be twisted. Jilly brought the prompt, and dVerse Poets Pub had the guts to go with it. So be it!
Life in Portofino 
Brilliant!! And, again, I love the title. So glad you dug into Ben’s famous lines – you do him justice with a bolt and rumble.
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You told old Ben to go fight a kite? To go knife a fight? I like that this is reads more like a poem than adage. Well done. You sent me to the Almanack, and I’m quiffing and quaffing.
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“and he became an enlightened sage” – such a clever poem.
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Good one: “Involve me and I turn state’s evidence.”
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One of my favorite lines! Glad you enjoyed it.
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Hey! Your picture is showing the other way! You flipped or what? Love the poem Charley.
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My photo has always tilted thus. A selfie that brought out the real me. Skewed.
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Then it’s me – I was convinced it was skewed (your word) to the left! 🙂
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I’m really middle of the road. But I do lean into the corners at higher speeds.
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Thank you for loving the poem!
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Love the ending…’old ben enlightened with sage’
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Perhaps I should have said cooked and seasoned with a little sage…. Thank you!
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enlightenment in a new way….
maybe he was high as a kite
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Well, perhaps the smoke pouring off him wafted that high….
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sMiLeS eVerY
EnlighteneD
SagE
DArk
WithouT
PaSSioN
oF LusT And RagE..:)
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Thank you! 🙂
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Welcome..:)
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Excellent, Charley! Love the title, and particularly,
“Involve me and I turn state’s evidence.”
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Thank you! I glad you liked that. Franklin is a gold mine!
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oh YES! Love the title and the last two lines. Okay….I should have gone the humor route and made the adages more prominent and had fun with it. Why oh why did I go into obscurity and the dark side? Ah well…..
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Thank you!
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