Is that a hand of welcome? I guess not,
palm uppermost suggests you want a tip;
I’ll offer you my hand to shake instead,
take a grip on friendship’s hand for free.
Life’s full of expectancy, I’ll grant you one
glimpse without fee, ponder on this cast-iron
certainty – Hell will freeze many times
before you get a tip from me!
You’ll get no tip from me for merely being
who you are, polite for sure, agreeable and
neatly dressed; impressed as I should be a
tip for fancy clothes is truly gross largesse.
A tip for serving me a cup of tea is beggaring
either you work for the emporium or you’re
an agency condemning work opportunities
indicting government employment policy.
Oh, I see, it is because you speak English!
Thank you for that, I wondered what it was.
Quaint, almost Early Modern, around 16th C.
Yes, I recognise Shakespeare; William isn’t it?
© 6 June 2007, I.D. Carswell
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