If just once it came to thought

That to others mattered not

Times when I stood up and fought,

Then to fall would be a waste,

And of failure feel the taste,

For success would lack its chaste.

If I fall, it's for others to see

That though painful it may be,

It will matter not to me.

I've been tripped and pushed around,

Often cursed and even bound.

But with luck I always found

Kinds of those who helped me up,

Friends to aid me leap the gap,

Later guide across a trap.

As a child, I understood,

Then grew up and never could,

If indeed alone I stood.

What I love, I love alone.

If there's anything I own,

It's, alas, my flesh and bone.