Tremendous forces work each day
To rob me of my weekly pay,
Pleasure to me is the foe
That takes away my hard-earned dough;
Joy’s the thing that really heckles
Me apart from sundry shekels,
Any frolic, any bender
Costs its bit of legal tender:
A train ride just to old Paducah
Takes a wad of filthy lucah;
Night-clubs, burlesque, women, liquor
Help my money fade the quicker.
Any little bit of pleasure
Cuts into my buried treasure.
Even to just stop and wonder
Takes, for books, its share of plunder.
And, if you are in the mood,
Think what costs my yen for food!
So I live beneath this lash:
If it’s fun, I pay in cash!
by Ray Romine Saturday, October 26, 1946
