When the doctor calls the surgeon, and the surgeon says you must, And it cannot be put off a single day, And the ambulance will come, will be here in half an hour, -- What then do you do or say? There's no time to call a lawyer and no chance to make a will; There's no time to talk things over here and there, To ask folks' forgiveness for the ugly words and deeds, To try to smooth your life to something fair. There is clothing to be changed, and a small valise to pack, And the ambulance arrives before you think, And they whirl you off to the etherizing room, Where you breathe the world to nothing, and then sink. Oh, the surgeon is a blessing, though a blessing in disguise, And we learn, learn, learn in his school: Not to put things off, not to live for Number One, Not to be -- an -- everlasting -- fool! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MARRIAGE A LA MODE: SONG by JOHN DRYDEN THE DREARY CHANGE by WALTER SCOTT ASPIRATIONS: 6 by MATHILDE BLIND THE WHITE THOUGHT by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON PITCHING HAY IN VERMONT by DANIEL LEAVENS CADY FREEDOM IN MAH SOUL by DAVID WADSWORTH CANNON JR. THE SUMMER STORM by ALICE CARY |