Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE ACID TEST, by BERTON BRALEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE ACID TEST, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There are lots of pleasant fellows who will slap you on the back
Last Line: For the guy who lends you money when you're broke.
Subject(s): Friendship


There are lots of pleasant fellows who will slap you on the back,
And who help to cheer your spirits when the world is looking black,
But who never have the rhino when you need to make a touch,
Though they're always awful sorry and regret it very much.
They will do for some occasions, but the really loyal bloke,
Is the guy who lends you money when you're broke.

Words of sympathy and kindness may be quite sincerely meant
But they do not pay the butcher or the baker or the rent,
And when you are up against it and you don't know where to turn,
And Old Lady Luck has frisked you for each dollar that you earn,
Then the real friend and the true friend is the lad who fills the poke,
Yes, the guy who lends you money when you're broke.

Money's not of much importance when you've gathered what you need,
But on down-and-out occasions it's a vital thing indeed,
And the chap who slips it to you when you ask a loan of him
Is a ministering angel and a blooming seraphim.
So in these here deathless verses let my word of praise be spoke
For the guy who lends you money when you're broke.





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