GOOD BOY

I have led a good life, full of peace and quiet
I shall have an old age, full of rum and riot.
I have been a good boy, wed to work and study
I shall be an old man, ribald coarse and bloody.

I have never slit throats, even when I yearned to.
Never sang dirty songs that my fancy turned to.
I have been a nice boy, and done what was expected
I shall die and old bum, loved but unrespected.

Collected from Lemuel F. Parton
Recorded by Carl Sandburg
@moral @aging
filename[ GOODBOY
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