I asked for your blessing,
  instead you explained

What I should be paying
  to garner acclaim

You told me if only
  I’d do it this way

My words could have meaning
  and influence—sway

But power and fortune
  are not what I sought

If influence only
  gets brokered and bought

So the blessing passed over,
  no bribery done

A last vow to myself
  —from you I must run

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)