Get ye down to Shakespeare & Co. my son,
He said, with a smile, and a nod, and a gun;
Just bring a few lines, dipped in rainbow allure,
And if they’re any good, we’ll tell you, to be sure.

So with hand all a tremble I set pen in place,
A few tattered strands of my life for to trace;
Will they understand me? will they feel? will they know?
If I get myself down, to Shakespeare & Co.

Can I tell them about the time I was five
When… I killed a hamster to prove I was alive?
Can I trouble them there, will they wince? will they go?
If I drag myself down to Shakespeare & Co.

Or the time I let my sly ambitions run wild;
The result? One ex-wife, one ex-friend, one ex-child.
Should I trust them with this, should I let them all in,
To my palace of murkiness, misery, gin?

Must I tell them I get drunk three days out of two?
Would that be worthy of Shakespeare & Co. for you?
Where brave Latin bitches, brittle with wit
Battle wild Irish witches who whimper and spit.

Could I fit myself in there, squeeze into some crack,
Where the people won’t notice the skills, that I lack?
So I never did find any rainbow allure,
Just a few scribbled words, with an intention, pure.

But I did get myself down to Shakespeare & Co.,
To hear others recite, and to just have a go,
`Tween the books and the dust and people I don’t know…
I’d like to thank you. Thank you, Shakespeare & Co.