Keep the tale, it's free, just bring the book back.
Eat the fish, but bring the line and hook back.

No one out here lives by bread alone;
relish the coq au vin, but send the cook back.

Don't let a warning chill your lovely days,
just lock the door, please. Don't invite the crook back.

Accept this praise for a game well played, my friend-
and checkmate. Much too late to move that rook back.

What makes you so sure your puny dam
could hold even this innocuous little brook back?

Sure, you were young, and clueless, and unnerved.
Too late to win the dear one you forsook back.

A day will come when you'll be held to account
for every gift you gave and then took back.

Get that look of stunned surprise off your face.
You tried to shake the world. The world shook back.

How do you know she's still there, Eric? The Beloved,
that slut. She's ditched you before. Go on, look back.