Cheaters steal from you and me.

Not just our money or our time.

They also sap the strength of those,

who choose to play the game by rules.

 

And some will say, grab what you can.

To win is all that really counts.

Step on the lame or push aside

the people standing in your way.

 

Never mind good sportsmanship.

That is for sissies or the weak.

The only rule they advocate,

is not to give or be caught out.

 

And those who live their lives this way

are honored by a putrid Press

with headlines or the spoken words,

that permeate our very lives.

 

How will our children live their lives,

when heroes feet are made of clay.

Gilded till they look so strong

but deep inside found to be flawed.

 

How will they know which path is right,

when all around them honor dies.

Strangled by our cold neglect,

that Grail that was a leading light.

 

Wake up, wake up! Open your eyes.

The time has come to do your part.

Put back the rules that set aside,

wild animals from human beings.

 
 

David Garlick, Victoria, November, 1990