Ma has a dandy little book that's full of narrow <br /> slips, <br /> An' when she wants to pay a bill a page from <br /> it she rips; <br /> She just writes in the dollars and the cents and <br /> signs her name <br /> An' that's as good as money, though it doesn't <br /> look the same. <br /> When she wants another bonnet or some <br /> feathers for her neck, <br /> She promptly goes an' gets 'em, an' she writes <br /> another check. <br /> I don't just understand it, but I know she <br /> sputters when <br /> Pa says to her at supper: 'Well! You're <br /> overdrawn again!' <br /> <br /> Ma's not a business woman, she is much too <br /> kind of heart <br /> To squabble over pennies or to play a selfish <br /> part, <br /> An' when someone asks for money, she's not <br /> one to stop an' think <br /> Of a little piece of paper an' the cost of pen <br /> an' ink. <br /> She just tells him very sweetly if he'll only <br /> wait a bit <br /> An' be seated in the parlor, she will write a <br /> check for it. <br /> She can write one out for twenty just as easily <br /> as ten, <br /> An' forgets that Pa may grumble: 'Well, <br /> you're overdrawn again!' <br /> <br /> Pa says it looks as though he'll have to start in <br /> workin' nights <br /> To gather in the money for the checks that <br /> mother writes. <br /> He says that every morning when he's summoned <br /> to the phone, <br /> He's afraid the bank is calling to make mother's <br /> shortage known. <br /> He tells his friends if ever anything our fortune <br /> wrecks <br /> They can trace it to the moment mother started <br /> writing checks. <br /> He's got so that he trembles when he sees her <br /> fountain pen <br /> An' he mutters: 'Do be careful! You'll be <br /> overdrawn again!'<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ma-and-her-checkbook/
