tingo neighbors

Tingo (Easter Island): a person who borrows things from a friend’s house one by one until there is nothing left.

he came over the first time
just to introduce himself
as the neighborhood watch dog
and regular gossip hound

we served him some tea
and he took a big piece of cake
wrapped up with some china,
and an over sized silver fork

on his second visit he asked to borrow
a copy of the completed collection
of Sherlock Holmes stories
and a little lamp to read by

over time we lent him a spade
the tall ladder and some gloves
to help clear out his gutters
before the heavy snowfall of winter

we noticed that our old boat
which was left in the yard
was removed from its trailer
and put in the pond across the road

he borrowed dvds and even old vhs
and had to borrow a player and tv
to enjoy the films he borrowed
and while he was at it, the microwave for popcorn

we lent him a set of shelves
to keep his new collection
of our dvds
organized and neat looking

he made us some cake
from our own cake pans
using our spatula and spoon
and all our flour and eggs

such cake was served
on our fine china
with our family's silver cutlery
at our table in  his house

he borrowed everything
including our shed, our cat,
the hose and the fridge
but we had to draw the line

when he asked to borrow mom