I’ve never met a word 1 That couldn’t be replaced 2 With some captivating synonym 3 That just stared me in the face. 4 My friends call me a euphemism: 5 Mr. Big Vocabulary, 6 Because I make their simple words 7 more extraordinary. 8 When they say go forward, 9 I reiterate—“proceed” 10 When they say they’ve stuff for sale, 11 “merchandise,” they hear from me. 12 It’s not an obligation; 13 don’t misunderstand. 14 The right word’s always there (somewhere) 15 waiting patiently to stand 16 in a sentence or a paragraph— 17 perfection is the thing. 18 A guardian of language, 19 I make your statements sing. 20 I think it’s just good sportsmanship 21 to this notion, I subscribe: 22 that our words are exclamations 23 of the thoughts we wield inside. 24 And if I can be the bearer 25 of superior expressions, 26 then Warden of Vocabulary 27 is my chosen life profession. 28 In line 13, the word obligation means A) duty. B) enjoyment. C) possession. D) sentence.