I hesitate to make a list -
Of all the countless deals I've missed;
Bonanzas that were in my grip -
I watched them through my fingers slip;
The windfalls which I should have bought
Were lost because I over-thought;
I thought of this l thought of that,
I could have sworn I smelled a rat,
And while I thought things over twice,
Another grabbed them at the price,
It seemed I always hesitate,
Then make my mind up much too late,
A very cautious man am I
And that is why I never buy

When tracts rose high on Sixth and Third,
The prices asked I thought absurd;
Whole block-fronts bleak and black with soot-
Were priced at thirty bucks a foot!
I wouldn't even make a bid,
But others did — yes, others did!
When Tucson was cheap desert land,
I could have had a heap of sand;
When Phoenix was the place to buy
I thought the climate much too dry
"Invest in Dallas-That's the spot!" -
My sixth sense warned me I should not,
A very prudent man am I
And that is why I never buy

A corner here, then acres there,
Compounding -values year by year,
I chose to think and as I thought,
They bought the deals. I should have bought
The Golden chances I had then
Are lost and will not come again,
Today I can not be enticed
For everything's so overpriced
The deals of yesteryear are dead;
The market's soft — so's my head!

Last night I had a fearful dream,
I know I wakened with a scream;
Some Indians approached my bed
For trinkets on the barrelhead,
(In dollar bills worth twenty-four,
And nothing less and nothing more),
They'd sell Manhattan Isle to me,
The most I'd go was twenty-three.
The redman scowled: "Not on a bet!"
And sold to Peter Minuit.
At times a teardrop drowns my eye
For deals I had, but did not buy;
And now life's saddest words I pen
"If only I'd invested then!"

-Author unknown