MAN IN THE MIRROR

If you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.

For it isn't your father or mother or wife
Whose judgement upon you must pass,
For the verdict in life that does count the most
Is the one staring back from the glass.

He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you know you've passed your most difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you've cheated the man in the glass.

Author unknown
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When I was traveling in Australia I became friends with a great guy called Troy. We worked together at a campsite and often got drunk together on cheap four-litre boxes of goon (wine). Troy was young, but had already spent some time in prison. One evening over a few drinks at the campsite he recited this poem. He told me he had learned it in Baggo Road Prison in Brisbane. Apparently in the same prison a few years earlier a convict wrote this poem. The convict was on death row and wrote 'Man in the Mirror' four hours before his execution.