NO FOOL LIKE AN OLD MULE

They were cheering
And clapping,
And slapping
My back,

So I wiped the sweat
From my forehead
Smiled and pulled:
One more step
And another
Bowing and waving
Like crazy;

Dizzy with the joy
Of being busy,
Approved of,
And pleasing
But tired, so tired.

So I thought:
Let me stop
For a drink
And I set down
The burden
I having been
Bowing under.

So I set it down
And stood up
From my stoop
And they drifted
Away.

All of them
Just drifted.
Friends and
Supposedly
Tender
Lovers.

I guess mules
Are useful
Until they refuse.
Until at long last
They understand
They confuse
The carrot
And the lariat.

I suppose a mule
Is also a fool;
And what,
I ask you, is
The conclusion
And moral
Of THAT?


MC