Self Education

won't get anyone into the cliquey networks
where jobs are assured for the few
through discreetly exchanged favors,
or flashing the old school tie.
Nor will it make a person rich,
or get them the kind of references
that  employers pass on to each other-
where the referees take the credit
for creating the stability that ensure
the employer's maturity,
to the discredit of the employee.

But given a lighter means
to a living, self education
means choice where people
captain themselves through
life's ebb and tide, and change
is the biggest constant as much
as any heart could want,
even beyond wanting.