This is the debt I pay
Just for one riotous day,
Years of regret and grief,
Sorrow without relief.

Pay it I will to the end—
Until the grave, my friend,
Gives me a true release—
Gives me the clasp of peace.

Slight was the thing I bought,
Small was the debt I thought,
Poor was the loan at best—
God! but the interest!

……………………………
“The Debt”
By Paul Laurence Dunbar
Read by Brian Harrison
Directed by Walter Evans
Copyright Georgia Regents University
2013 All rights reserved