Come get your hot lead, just plug in the kettle:
coffee, tea...or insanity;
it’s a time-consuming transition.
You won’t believe that money grows on trees,
how ‘bout talent rising out of corrosion?

A recall notice got lost in the mail,
apologizing for an assembly line error.
Your kettle was accidentally lined with lead
instead of copper, as it should have been.
Hearken back to the Roman Empire;
its plumbing innocently carried the same message.

Your parents' boiler was on the list,
but also as a wedding gift twenty-five years ago.
You always wondered why you seemed a little off,
maybe even missing a few screws.
The answer sits on the kitchen counter
in a mug you’ve drank from all these years.

No sense worrying over a little hot lead,
seeing the damage has already been done.
Besides, you stand a big chance of making lots of money;
keep writing like a fool, and drink lots of coffee,
and if you should find yourself someday
an animal at the funny farm,
you can tell your new friends how it came to be this way,
sipping a cup of tea, day after day,
getting inspiration from a little hot lead.


© 1982

750 hits as of November 2023

11/24/2014

Author's Note: Based on a story my parents told me about a kettle they received as a wedding gift. Years later, they found out that that particular model had been recalled, due to the inside having a possibly toxic level of lead in the metal. By the time they found out, the kettle had long since been thrown out, having run its course, with any possible damage to health already done. I thought it would be fun then to take the idea and run with it.

Posted on 11/24/2014
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti