A Life in Brooklyn..

[Written to a Friend]

We chose this life, because its the one we knew.
No formal education, no degree to show.
But we know these streets, and we know the rules:
Keep your ear to the ground, keep your mouth closed,
Keep your eyes faced forward, and don't ever look back.
This is the life of mobster.
One who lives by his sight, and dies by another.
A man who owns his life, because he stakes it willingly.
A man who asks neither forgiveness, nor for permission.
Such a man cannot be dissuaded or stopped;
He reaches his goals, or is shot down.
And even then, lying on cold pavement,
He takes comfort in knowing that he did it his way, and no other.