Poem: Respect Your Elders

Stubbornness wants to be a virtue, aspiring to be thought of

as a mark

of good character, nearly related (as if by marriage) to the better

qualities Determination and

Stick-to-itiveness. Stubbornness, however, is not Determination nor even Stick-to-itiveness.

Stubbornness is an affront to Nature, an insult to Evolution,

an honest admission of stupidity. I do declare to the world:

“I will not

progress! I will not make

progress!

I shall stay stuck where I am.”

Why do you fear change? Why does your dog have mange? Why were you not coached by

Red Grange? Why can you not never will not ever?

Because. Or put slightly differently, because.

And, also, I am older than you are.

For now.