Fresh out of law school,

with a trained eye for detail,

his maiden battle left him,

feeling like a garbage pail.

Furious with his reasoning,

the fulminating judge quipped:

"Counsel, you've been quibbling,

when you ought to stay tight lipped,

for, to wriggle your way

out of this one,

you are very ill equipped ! "

Hounded by the humbling,

his ego was now smarting.

He felt such a great big fall,

would've had a Zen Master fuming,

even the clairvoyant Octopus Paul,

could never have seen it coming.

His wizened senior  chipped in,

and over a bottle of the finest gin,

preached with the slightest of grins:

" You are my trusted lynch pin,

a fine lawyer you'll make,

your pride, though, is a deadly sin,

abandon it for career's sake."

The words struck a chord,

he realized he wasn't The Lord,

he felt humble,did not grumble,

never again did he stumble.