NOT QUITE ALLERGIC TO ARPEGGIOS


Berty Barter went to sleep, he started counting wooly sheep
When Mama Barter stormed into his ...room.

Berty lifted up his chin, he knew the ...tirade would begin,
Considered this his frightful, nightly ..doom.

*

Bertha Barter thus began, her voice ..screeched so much louder than,
A tractor crashing into 90 crows.

"Explain why you've been very bold, as
..not to do what you were told,
To practice daily, your arpeggios?"

*

"And have you done your spelling yet?
........ You've broken rules that we have set.
The almanac is screaming to be read.

How dare you sleep with things undone,
.............your math , example twenty-one,
The dictionary's closed," his mama said.

*

"But mama," Berty Barter cried, "I'm feeling rather sleep deprived,
I work much better if I have some rest.

"You'll sleep," his mama was quite stern," the pile of z's you'll
richly earn,
When having done much better than your best."

*

"Remember, Berty, " mama yelled, " in school you only can excel,
Eliminate the don'ts and keep the do's.


In order to get nothing wrong, you must prepare from early morn,
Until your work is done, you mustn't snooze."

*

"I realize though you're in grade one,
assignments come in by the ton,
So in the future you may surely go....


To college with a status high, the things I say you can't deny.
Charge forward with determination flow

*

"And take from mama, one more tip, you'll get a music scholarship,
So pracice hard those short arpeggios.


You'll be a doctor with acclaim or
engineer with music fame,
A spotlight , one who everybody knows."

*

"And also, Berty, it is clear, that weath increases year by year,
You'll end up as a multi-billionaire.


A house with many rooms, what's more, there'll be good servants by the score,
You'll live the life of Mr .Debonair."

*

"Oh mama," Berty screamed out loud, "I live beneath a heavy cloud,
Of pressure to succeed the way you see.


I need to tell you, it's my view, I'll only eat what I can chew,
Or Berty "Bag of nerves" is what I'll be.

*

How very lucky, one might say, that Berty Barter had his way,
He grew up in the way he thought was sane.


Berty did his work just fine, he always said, "my life is mine,"
And only reached for what he could attain.

*

Berty's now a Chief of Staff, he reads a lot, has time to laugh,
And keeps in mind the things he really knows.

He amply plays two instruments, in science, does experiements,
Each day,he'll practice those arpeggios.

*

And Bertha Barter's hounding him, as loud as echoes in a gym,
Had no effect on Berty, not one bit.


'Cause Berty Barter was the kind, who followed strictly, his own mind,
And lived his life the way he saw most fit.

 

Click to read the sequel.

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