A Fool and His Money

 

 

 

“A fool and his money…”

But how did he come by it?

Did he earn his money?

Was it by merit?

 

“A fool and his money…”

Sounds kind o’ strange to me,

I’d really like to know

How he got his money.

 

“A fool and his money…”

I heard this at school,

I did not give it much thought

Perhaps then I was a fool.

 

But having thought about it

It suddenly struck me

That at some point in time

A fool had money.

 

I know that there is more

Don’t think me absurd,

I’ll add those words in a moment

To complete the proverb.

 

But for right now

I’ve been beaten to the draw,

Like a fowl, “a fool and his money”

Has stuck in my craw.

 

“A fool and his money…”

Where did he get it from?

By now you must really think

I am a clown.

 

 

“A fool and his money…”

This sounds so weird,

It is somewhat like Blackbeard

Having no beard.

 

“A fool and his money…

Are soon parted,”

How they got together at first

Is where we started.

 

I will tell you this,

Then most of us are fools,

Soon parted from our money

Is our daily rule.

 

The little that we get

Definitely goes in a hurry,

Hence, out of necessity we are fools

Soon parted from our money.

 

From paycheck to paycheck

From pension to pension,

The only thing that we get to keep

Is the apprehension.

 

The apprehension re the bill

We defaulted on paying

And the misapprehension of thinking

We’d fix it by delaying.

 

The misapprehension

Of borrowing to pay a loan

Helping that very poor loan-shark

Keep more meat on his bone.

 

I had dared not done this

When I was still at school,

Those erudite English teachers

Would have called me a fool.

 

The meaning they wanted

Was quite straightforward

But to try to totally apply it today

Would be backward.

 

 

Easy come, easy go,

Hence the fool’s easy money,

Having not earned it in the first place

Why should he keep any?

 

Easy come, easy go

Perhaps easy will come again,

Yours truly could do with a little more

To help ease his pain.

 

A fool and his money

Are soon parted

Hopefully, we’ve come a long way

From where we started.

 

Stewart Russell © March 23, 2024