Never Tell Us We Were Bad

Is what you tell each other

While you teach other how

Bad each other’s being now.

Power for a grizzly bear

Means mass, muscle, teeth, and claws,

But among human beings

You need cooperation,

Which needs a collective sense

Of blameless entitlement

Helped along by righteousness.

It’s hard to cooperate

And beat cooperators

Competing with their own teams,

Harder if shame’s cat is set

Loose among your team’s pigeons.

Don’t let anyone tell you

Any of your group was bad

Or cohesion will fragment,

Morale will sink, righteousness

Will wane, cooperation

Will disintegrate. Never

Tell us we were bad! You must

Have each soldier, group member,

Or ally shout. Or you will lose.