To My Boy

I tasted it all. The power and the glory.

The highest posts I’ve seen. Was the ambassador

To Spain, the PM’s confidant, the one who mattered.

Was blessed by the Pope, shook hands with Clinton.

Have truly seen the world from close quarters.

Power never corrupted me as it does fools.

Said no to every beauty, or at least made it seem so.

As one who knows, I tell you this, my boy

Nothing in the world has real value.

Nothing ever becomes everything.

Never give away your last penny,

Never trust entirely for long.

Truth is good, but not at the highest levels.

Honesty can be detrimental there. If you are my son,

And you believe that you are, keep mum.

The world hates this trifling kind of discovery.

The highest virtue lies in silent advancement.

The rest is all a mockery, nothing lasts.