and in comes the worm

the guru on the mountaintop just lies
no special knowledge comes from pain
there is less hope in sunlight than in rain
what fool us most of all are our bare eyes
all change involves whatever's born or dies
the loss of some may not be others' gain
truth is too often complex and not plain
the final winners are the rats and flies
you can't refuse or opt out of the game
for fear that on the next turn you might win
there's never any reason to drop out
our hopes and nightmares don't add up to shame
we let the top continue on its spin
and hope that victory will not turn to rout