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Civil service jingles and other things

Chapter 43: I PLAY THE GAME
By Harry McDonald Walters
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About This Book

A series of witty poems, parables, and light verses lampooning bureaucratic life and public service. Short jingles and longer allegorical sketches caricature clerical drudgery, patronage, political opportunism, and office rivalries, often using mock‑biblical cadence, puns, and comic exaggeration. Narratives follow minor officials navigating promotions, investigations, and changing regimes, while satirical vignettes highlight hypocrisy and the survival tactics of lower‑rank employees. The collection alternates playful rhyme and humorous prose to entertain readers acquainted with administrative routines.

I PLAY THE GAME

I’m playing a game I never can win,
That I surely must lose in the end;
And yet, it’s so mysterious and queer,
That I’m glad my strength to expend
In struggle, and strife, and scheme,
To move me and mine in the game;
Knowing well that with moves good or bad
The end will be always the same.
I know I must lose; but I play
Just the same as tho’ I might win,
And laugh, and make merry over good plays,
And over the bad ones I grin.
My opponent surrounds me about,
A dumb and inscrutable IT;
Without joy or pain at my losses or gain,
Making exact counter moves that all fit.
Without a mistake or a doubt
Are all the replies to my play;
Mine enemy can’t win or lose;
But in the end I must pay.
The best I can get in the end
Is that friends, if they mention my name,
Will say: “Although he cashed in,
He made a good try at the Game.”
And so I play the game of Life
According to my power and light,
And when old Nature calls the game
I shall at least have made a fight.

And if one shall smite thee on one cheek, consider him well, and if he be not too husky, smite him with a great swat, lest he go after thy other cheek also. And if one shall take thy cloak watch well thy vest and pants, lest thou be stripped naked and be arrested for indecent behaviour.