I
Trust was his friend with whom he’d play
Peek-a-boo and Ride the Pony.
Warmth was a woman old and gray,
And Resignation was her crony.
Sweetness was his favorite aunt
And Jealousy his sibling.
Tenderness was full of cant
And ever busy scribbling.
When I grow up, the infant thought,
I’ll be like them until I drop.
The boy was sold as he was bought,
And now he is a traffic cop.
II
Love had moved to another coast;
Her calls to him were all refused.
Sorrow was a parent’s ghost,
Pity a child who’d been abused.
While pallid Anger sat and stewed,
Fear dogged her steps from street to street.
Joy rarely laughed (she thought it rude),
And Ennui lived to overeat.
Every July her feelings met
At a kind of family reunion,
And she would stay at home and get
Drunk in blissful self-communion.
III
Desire had died and left no will,
So Wistfulness now had to work.
Mirth survived on Pronestyl,
But still he was the same dumb jerk.
Pain came each day at four o’clock
To leave a bag of groceries.
Envy was proud she still could walk
Despite the problem with her knees.
He seldom saw them anymore
Except for Pain, and sometimes Grief.
He lived above a record store
(Which doesn’t matter if you’re deaf).
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