It is safer to be silent
to sit in the darkness
and await results
than to stride proudly
the cock of the walk
and leave yourself ready
for all the attacks
of all the men and women
playing on the fields of discontented conquest.

It is wiser
to keep your counsel
and to offer nothing to nobody
including the first fraught fringe
of a feeling to family
lest it be used to haunt you
later in life
sent as a time mine from the past
to destroy a certain peace of mind
previously contained
in your memories.

Speak naught of the things you hold dear.
Share only the frivolous
and provide that information
only sparingly
for that, too,
can prove dangerous
in the wrong hands.
It is, in fact,
the most decorous course of action
to sew lips soon after birth
and never be cursed by community again.