Santi di Tito’s famous portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli, now residing in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy; headcrop. Deutsch: Niccolò Machiavelli; Ausschnitt aus dem Portrait von Santi di Tito. Македонски: Портрет на Николо Макијавели во функционерска облека. Санти ди Тито, 1500. Денес во Палацо Векио, Фиренца, Италија (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Your schemes
While hyperbolic
Still have an elegance
A symmetry
That may prove
Effective yet

You could surprise
The unwary
With the dissonance between
Your smile
And your intent

Just be careful
Not to over-estimate
The strategy
Of other players
And so fail to see
Them true

They may not even
Be playing
So may react
Different to expectations
Laying all your schemes
To waste
Leading all your plans
To irrelevance
And proving all your calculations
Incorrect

(c) Helen Valentina 2013, All Rights Reserved