Bud 'N Betty Poem by Winston T. Gylles

Bud 'n Betty both hate to swear
not on a Bibly book
not an oath - egad!
or on anyone's head
or over anyone's tomb
or by holey relics
not even by blood
they're agin' swearin'
but
they'll promise you
anything

Especially
they'll promise they didn't
they'll promise they weren't
they'll readily promise they haven't ever
easily promise, for instance
they went straight home (when they didn't)
because, of course they may mean
tomorrow
next time
if ever again

These backward promises
are not empty
neither are they base black lies
just a fuzz epochal confusion
like
'I promise I did not
write this poem! '
if you catch my drift

But then
Bud 'n Betty
do absolutely not
read poetry
I promise