Here's one that I have carried around for many years. It's unlikely that many of you will have come across it before, unless (that is) you happen to have leafed through a copy of "Mind Body & Spirit" (the Journal of the Army Physical Training Corps) from November 1977.
THE INDISPENSABLE MAN
Some time when you're feeling important,
Some time when your ego's in bloom,
Some time when you take it for granted
You're the best qualified man in the room.
Some time when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions,
Add see how they humble your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hands in it up to your wrists.
Pull them out - and the hole that remains
Is the measure of how much you'll be missed.
You may splash all you please when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop: and you'll find in a minute
That it looks just the same as before.
The moral of this is quite simple,
You must do the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember
There is no indispensable man.
