The walking stick and Elon Musk

I was a galley-boy on an old tankship 
that docked in Liverpool for repair 
I think it was in May, and I was sixteen 
at a second-hand shop, near the docks
I bought a walking stick and happily used it
the stick going ashore to the pub or 
to buy fish and chips, unaware of how odd
I must have looked, no one said a word
Coming back on board, it was the second
The officer who said I looked ridiculous, no one
uses walking sticks anymore, you are not
a ******* lord
Enter, into my self-contained world, what
other people thought of me
I became self-conscious, and it worried me 
What did other people think of me personally
His words brought on a shyness that stopped
My plans for the future
Who knows, I might have become the first
Elon Musk
He has freed himself of what other people
think, or so we believe, but deep down, he
likes to be loved