Hardscrabble

by C.B. Anderson
 
When all you've got is beer, wine seems like whiskey.

When all your fear's used up, the things you dare
to think about doing don't look as risky
as they might otherwise -- nothing can scare
a person who has peered into the eyeball
of his own death.  The now-abandoned dream
of a large life got stuck inside the pitfall
of dread.  It's time to hatch another scheme:

Throw caution away.  Learn a few choice Latin
phrases such as tempus fugit and carpe
diem.  If you are offered sheets of satin,
demand silk.  Don't let some movie star play
the roles which you would like to make your own.

The dog that growls the loudest gets the bone.