Borrower and Lender Be - Edit

[dukealien]

edit;

Borrower and Lender Be
(Contra Polonius)


To owe is to have promised, sworn one’s future,
as to lend is to accept an oath;
faith and credit aren’t divisible,
nor belief and trust.

Absent trust there’s only loan-sharking:
fear and threats, vigorish on principal
long vanished, its repayment
never contemplated or desired.

Misplacing trust yields only fraud,
evasion, flight by night
before a chilled-out mark discovers
his greed expertly reciprocated.

Truth is indispensable: both lender
and recipient must know themselves,
that neither’s hawk nor pigeon
but self-worthy of belief.

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I've tried to apply @Knot's advice in this edit, including attempts to keep the tone more consistent.

Hawk and pigeon refer to the gambler's maxim

If you don't know who the pigeon at the table is, you're the pigeon.

To which I'd add

If you're positive who the pigeon at the table is, you're the pigeon.