If Tadpoles did not change their spots <br />to join the world of frogs, <br />if useless debris turns to clots <br />and jams internal cogs, <br />if babies stayed the size they are <br />so cuddly and so sweet, <br />if Fred the Drunkard left his car <br />and walked home on his feet, <br />if Jews stopped hating all the gentiles <br />and Germans got some humour, <br />if Wallstreet could forget percentiles <br />and corporate greed and rumours, <br />if doctors had the guts to go <br />back to when lives were prized, <br />if politicians were to know <br />their egos, oversized, <br />if all thy neighbours could be human <br />and clean their own backyard, <br />then, in the words of Harry Truman <br />we would at last be smart. <br /> <br />So if you read this look again, <br />make sure you'd pick as friend <br />who on a scale from one to ten, <br />would be a perfect blend <br />of all that you consider good, <br />and God's own wisdom too. <br />And once you're confident you could <br />become the real you, <br />you may relax with your shy grin <br />and turn the other jowl, <br />it is not others that do sin, <br />just ask the wise old owl. <br /> <br />If you regard yourself above <br />the rest of all mankind, <br />if all you are is truth and love <br />and if the world is blind, <br />then worry not about the others, <br />they may become your fans, <br />perhaps the fault lies with their mothers <br />who'd go off to the dance <br />and left their charges to themselves <br />or to a babysitter, <br />which keeps away the kindly elves <br />and glorifies just glitter. <br />If substance and integrity <br />are absent in a man <br />you're left with window dressing, see <br />and with the 'Also Ran'. <br />But do beware and do not aim <br />your finger at your foes, <br />a weed who feels eternal shame <br />may yet become a rose.<br /><br />Herbert Nehrlich<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/virtue-of-selfishness/
