Leading Followers Poem by Barry Van Allen

I am smarter than I used to be,
when I was 17,
or when I was 22 or 25 years old,
... back when I knew everything.

Smart is not what it is all about,
it has to do with breaks,
and what you do with them,
and what toll that it takes on you.

It has to do with timing,
and the coming and the going,
of the thinking and the knowing,
of breaks, and smarts, and growing!

Among so many other things,
that happens in one's life,
those appear to be the keys,
to being wise... besides the learning.

You have to learn ; at least to learn,
without that you know nothing,
it is an ever changing you that brings,
what happens, into being.

To be a bit more critical,
always mostly of yourself,
beyond what seems to be the easy,
and to harvest your own pelt.

Anything that's less than that,
is just not good enough,
when you take the measure of your brother,
you had better be damn tough!

You had better bear the scrutiny,
and you better bear it well,
because nothing less will cut it,
unless, you crave a living hell.

You may want to follow down the road,
as so many are content to do,
the easy way is to never say,
what you know to be the truth.

Then one day it occurs to you,
that if you don't do it ... no one will,
... So you become the leader,
of the followers - - -
... and now they follow you!