alternative theory

the ones who will step off on the true beat
may be more lucky than the ones whose way
brings them good fortune and sufficient pay
but who will squirm and moan while in their seat
we have to smile as each new face we greet
and cannot with our mouths the whole truth say
that we are still the masters and that they
can gain no traction till they learn to cheat
the ones who leave the well-established path
may in the end get no more than a crumb
but still have wandered only where they chose
the rest of us are left to face the wrath
of he whose orders beat out on the drum
tell us to dig up the last shining rose