When
you get what you want in your struggle for self,
And the world makes you king for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that man has to say.
For it isn't a
man's father, mother or wife,
Whose judgement
upon him must pass,
The fellow whose verdict counts most in life,
Is the man staring back from the glass.
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 can fool
the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But the final reward will be heartache and tears,
If you've cheated the man in the glass.
Anonymous
This
poem was found written on a wall of a cell in death row.
It was composed by an anonymous prisoner who was later executed.