Ah! That intoxicating hope that
Second Things First might actually be
A viable policy—
That too-good-to-be-true notion that,
For many vain people,
Is also the too-good-to-pass-up thrill—
The idea that it could work
To be the teacher first,
And the student later—
The leader first,
And then the follower—
The preacher first,
And the practice after.
He is the sort to subscribe to these
Second Things First,
Not seeing it for
The vain self-promotion
That it is—
Or else,
Not caring that he is vain.
He has not discovered—
Or does not care—
That this tired world
Already owes the lion’s share of its woes
To having got the cart before the horse
In one way or another.
And so he promotes himself
Enthusiastically
Into the ranks of
The very quagmire
He purports
To be solving.
