Imitation

You flatter yourself your
Ability - at work your copy
Works.  At heart you are
Inept and know it, gauche and of
Unseasoned girth, know not
How to weigh another's worth.

So inward-gazing you reflect 
Mirrors of yourself and despise 
All other things.  Life you suppose 
Is scoring points in snakes and
Laddering - a worthy thing to
Kill or be killed.

In age one loses more grace
Than one accumulates, but 
Wisdom gains through sight.  
The fool I was emptied the 
Contents of my purse 
Over all our years.  I was

Rewarded by my own tears.  
How dearly I bought our
Wasted time.  I know now
You added up to nought, of
No worth your tarnished
Figure gloated on our

Mantelpiece like an
Old Oscar that could not
Polish to a gleam.  Such
False gilding thinks itself
Bright.  From your spirit's
Quashing there will be

No rise.  I suggest you
Eat your own coin, try
That and see how long you
Survive - you have made 
Your own bed - better
Lie in it with your twin.

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