The All-Important Word

By Jim Hagarty

One of the hardest things to say
Is a short little, two-letter word.
It’s a very unpopular word it seems
Which is why it is rarely heard.

It always takes raw courage to speak
The word no one wants to hear,
Cause people just will not accept it.
It’s the one word we all seem to fear.

Just two words will get you ahead in this life,
You know what they are, take a guess.
The one word begins with the letter “n”
And the other good word is yes.

Yes has its place and it gets all the buzz,
And takes you where you want to go.
But the word that I find more useful to me
Is the sweet little word known as “no.”

Author: Jim Hagarty

I am a 72-year-old retired journalist, busy recovering from a lifelong career as an unretired journalist. This year marks a half century of my scratching out little fables about life. My interests include genealogy, humour and music. I live in a little blue shack in Canada and spend most of my time trying to stay out of trouble. I am not that good at it. I also spent years teaching journalism. Poor state of journalism today: My fault. I have a family I don't deserve, a dog that adores me, and two cars the junk yard refuses to accept. My prized possessions include my old guitar and a razor my Dad gave me when I was 14 and which I still use when I bother to shave. Oh, and my great-great-grandfather's blackthorn stick he brought from Ireland in the 1850s. I have only one opinion but it is a good one: People take too many showers.