OPPORTUNITY

THIS I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:--
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's banner
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.
A craven hung along the battle's edge,
And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel--
That blue blade that the king's son bears, -- but this
Blunt thing--!" he snapped and flung it from his hand,
And lowering crept away and left the field.
Then came the king's son, wounded, sore bestead,
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
And ran and snatched it, and with battle shout
Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy down,
And saved a great cause that heroic day.

~Edward Rowland Sill (1841-1887)

From Gunblogger Conspiracy IRC Channel. And, no, you don't have to be a gunblogger to join in the fun.

On Down The Road

Hold to the course, though the storms are about you;
Stick to the road where the banner still flies;
Fate and his legions are ready to rout you--
Give 'em both barrels--and aim for their eyes.

Life's not a rose bed, a dream or a bubble,
A living in clover beneath cloudless skies;
And Fate hates a fighter who's looking for trouble,
So give 'im both barrels--and shoot for the eyes.

Fame never comes to the loafers and sitters,
Life's full of knots in a shifting disguise;
Fate only picks on the cowards and quitters,
So give 'em both barrels--and aim for the eyes.

~ Grantland Rice

The Man In The Glass

Josh recently reminded me of this. It bears repeating.

The Man In The Glass

Anonymous

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.

For it isn’t your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass.
The fellow whose verdict counts most in you life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

You may be like Jack Horner and chisel a plum
And think you’re a wonderful guy.
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.

He’s the fellow to please-never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear to the end.
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

Just another day at the office.

The project planning planners plan,
Questions? Surely you jest!
Meetings for meetings, pre and post.
Submit a change request!

I sent you that two months ago.
There's too much on my plate.
Are you checking the triage board?
Your time's not up-to-date!

I'm handing this thing off to you.
How was this overlooked?
This ticket is seven days old!
Why am I triple booked?

We need to shift some paradigms.
Has he tried to reboot?
Someone deleted my hard drive!
I'll just telecommute.

I'm taking my vacation now.
You sure that that's legit?
You need to do it this weekend.
That's it you guys, I quit.

SUDDENLY, POETRY!

On the advice of a book I won't mention, (some of you may know it) I've written a bit of poetry. (I've also put on a black beret, and thick, box-framed glasses)

Enjoy.

A Slave

"If government gives fish, men eat for a day.
Why not give men fish?" You ask. And I say;
"If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day;
If you teach a man to fish, your power goes away.
When a man begs for fish, and promises to behave,
This man is not free. This man is a slave.

He knows that his government is corrupt with deceit,
But he can't change a thing, while he sucks at its teat.
He'll do as he's told, and be patted on the head;
'Yes, Massa. No, Massa. May I have some bread?'

No heartache compares with a man who can see
A slave who thinks that he is free."