Shall I compare thee to Peking’s subway,
Thus I began my usual mockery,
which, this time, was interrupted
by him saying, “it’s Shakespeare
so it should be metro, not subway.

That actually makes sense,
but would break my puns.
I smiled back affirmative,
liking this Britishman more
like a friend than as a colleague.

The subway-metroism stays
in my mind and never fades away.
I wonder how the bard would
say about modern times—
he probably would cry instead.

{END}