DO TELL

       Tell me the story of that incident,
       The day the baby squirrels fell from the tree,
       Or tell me of some other sad event
       That turned around and ended happily.

       Or, if you must, recount or just make up
       Some tragic accident or episode
       As when two lovers quarrel and break up,
       Or tell a tale in any other mode—

       But tell, narrate, or spin a cunning yarn
       That puts me in a spell entranced by words:
       Take me to some mysterious mountain tarn
       And make me see and hear exotic birds,

            But make it so—beginning, middle, end—
            That I’ll believe it, though it’s just pretend.

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