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There Was A Promise
by Ken Harnisch
There was a promise in your voice
I took it into town and tried to buy provisions
With its gold. They told me it was not the
Coin of the realm, though the proprietor
Agreed it was exceeding valuable and suggested
I take it over to the bank.
Ah, poetry, the banker sniffed
Yes, like diamonds bright it has
Its place, but not in vaults of steel
And ice. I left then, hat in hand,
Holding the gold dust of your voice
In my tattered sack and looking for the assay office
In which to vend.
The assayer just grunted,
If all that glittered on a maidens tongue
Was gold, my boy, wed all be rich.
And if all the promises made before
By lusty men could be believed
Wed have no need for gold.
He took my sack and turned it
Upside down on the tabletop
And as we both watched, salt
Spilled on the mat
Forming a silent snow-white pyramid.
01/23/2004 Posted on 01/23/2004
Copyright © 2025 Ken Harnisch
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 01/25/04 at 05:06 PM Excellent story poem Ken, with a sad but truthful lesson. Well done! |
| Posted by Jeanne Marie Hoffman on 01/27/04 at 02:38 PM Mm. Interesting narrative. The closing lines of this... wow, I've been dumbfounded. I can't say anything at all. but I like it |
| Posted by Kate Demeree on 01/28/04 at 07:06 AM I too like this and do know why... there is always a bit of life in each story, movie, poem. There was a promise it would seem but not of gold or riches as men would have them. Beautiful poetry and the ending... so poingent. For in the search for gold, even though the promise was remembered... all that was left, was a pile of salt for a man in search of gold. |
| Posted by Maureen Glaude on 02/20/04 at 05:08 PM makes me think of fool's gold's lessons. Wonderful and old-fashioned. |
| Posted by Melissa Arel on 03/03/04 at 09:14 PM Well any comment I leave will never measure up to all these before me! :) As always I love your words and your poetry.. so glad to see your writings once again. Hope you are well. |
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