Vacillating Benny, an ancient chemist
now retired from Monsanto, must decide
if a poem his friend Ron has sent to him
is good enough for his hobby journal.
Benny finally decides to let the poem
marinate for another month
without sending Ron a reply.
Maybe it will sound better later on.
A month later, Benny asks his dog,
Monsanto Max, for an editorial opinion.
Bolstered by his dog’s advice,
Benny sends Ron a note:
‘I’m considering your poem
and will get back to you later
with a quasi-final decision.’
How might you respond if you were Ron,
a retired professor who wrote his poem
while teaching English in Vietnam?
Ron decides to send old Benny
three cases of Dom Perignon,
each bottle filled with Agent Orange.
Ron hopes Benny will have
the time he needs to decide if
his poem’s worthy of publication.
Ron remembers decades ago
when they were young and in their prime
and his old friend Benny was
First Vice President at Monsanto.
Ever decisive, Benny quickly approved
new applications for Agent Orange.
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