They committed the folly

Of failing to follow the lolly.

They didn’t learn about the booze,

They didn’t learn about the flooze,

The smack, the jack, and the lolly.

And, in short, they missed the trolley.

They overlooked some obvious flaws.

Why? Was it arrogance

Or the need to spare the expense

Or just a lack of common sense?

Who can say? Whatever the cause,

They failed to observe the clause.

They didn’t do their due diligence.

They didn’t do it,

And now they rue it,

And how they will rue not doing it,

How they will rue the day

They didn’t do their due diligence.

David Lehman’s recent books include One Hundred Autobiographies: A Memoir (2019) and Poems in the Manner of … (2017).