More Advice

       
More Advice   
  
Yes, I know of your credentials, as you've come to me commended
By an able old disciple, who has highly recommended
Your performance, for its slickness and its evidence of art –
And he tells me that you're on the way to getting rid of heart...

But he notes that you're uncertain on some matters – that you worry,
And at times, for needed actions, you have ended feeling sorry.
And he says that you are looking for a mentor, for a guide,
Who will aid you in your journey, one in whom you can confide...

So you've come to me requesting that I give you some advice.
But you'd better be prepared, as what I'll tell you isn't nice.
If you're looking to go higher, it behooves you to be shrewd.
Be polite to those who matter.  To the rest, you can be rude.

If you labored in a factory, then you'd do as you were told.
If you worked within an office, you'd be foolish to be bold.
You would follow all your orders and be loyal to your bosses,
Or your exit would be certain. You'd be counting up your losses.
  
Were you serving in an army – or teaching in a school,
You would surely have accepted that you're nothing but a tool.
If you'd started on a business, you'd be forced to toe the rules,
For the morgues for failing businesses are filled by errant fools.

******

If you're thinking you can change the world, you'd better think again.
For the cynics have been betting – and they're winning yet again.
If you venture into politics or you work in institutions,
You should leave behind your right-and-wrong and softer intuitions.

If you listen to your conscience and you do as it dictates,
You may find that you're the object of a multitude of hates.
If you're questioning a “verity” or asking for a reason,
You will surely be suspected then of lunacy or treason.

So be wary of the rebels who are questioning the flow.
To where rising ones are headed, you'd be smart to turn and go.
Leave resistance to the failures, who you'll see are losing ground.
Let reflection be for losers, as you win another round!

To your bosses, be compliant.  With your underlings, be stern.
You should undermine complainers – who will never, ever learn.
The ambition that is needed, if you're looking to succeed,
Should be fortified by ruthlessness – and a fair amount of greed.

****** 
 
For you're clearly not for labor in a factory or school.
As for slaving in an office –  you are surely not a fool.
You're not meant to die for duty in a distant, dirty war.
You were born to be a boss-man, who'll be chauffeured in a car.

So you'll learn to do the herding – and the hunting too, my friend.
And you'll learn from those who're herders – and who hunt until the end.
And you'll ally with the in-crowd, with the ones who're seeking power,
And you'll learn to lie and break the laws and watch the timid cower.

For the rules are there for workers and the lower rungs of bosses,
But they don't apply to owners.  We are ruled by profits, losses.
And a nation, such as ours, is in need of rule by those,
Who were meant to be the owners – and the roads to owning chose.

If you're looking for the power and the wealth, then you should know
That these things, from your own labor, you can never ever grow.
For the roads to wealth and power, they are built on workers' backs,
And the entrances are barred to him, who basic shrewdness lacks.

It's when your wealth is multiplied by all who work for you,
And your power too is magnified by all who're serving you,
It's then, by dint of rent and debt and wages that you pay,
That you'll get, with wits and ruthlessness, your money – and your way.

******

So I think that I shall leave you now to ponder if you're fitted
To clamber up the hierarchies and leave the rest outwitted.
It is heartening for elders, that a younger generation
Will be putting on the stirrups, so's to ride this glorious nation.

You have come to me from someone, who was really rather clever.
He had learned what I had taught him, while repeating hardly ever.
And he says that you are like him, and may even rise above.
If he's right (and I do trust him) then my labor is of love.

For I hope that you'll be smart enough to kill and have your dinner,
And you'll show, to those who're watching, what it means to be a winner.
So I'll gladly be your mentor, for it's rarely that I find,
In a person who is younger, such a cunning sort of mind.

But your quibbles, you should garbage, you should throw them in the trash,
Or you'll find that you are hobbled, or are even acting rash.
To be honest is for others – just be careful, don't be caught!
And you'll have your time for kindness – but there's battles to be fought.
   
2013 July 2nd, Fri.
Brooklyn