The falling man

is at your feet

it’s happened once again.

His latest fail

is incomplete

like everything he’s done.

Why does the man

get up again

no one really knows;

he’s only bound to fall and then

watch out,

there he goes!

The falling man

is on his way

tumbling through the sky

a shooting star;

a hissing flash

precedes his anguished cry .

He’s on the ground

a ruined heap

of humanness and flame;

the ash of dreams

that settles on

him screaming in his shame.

The falling man

is up again

will he never learn?

Is he stubborn, is he dense,

does he just like to burn?

The falling man

is by my side

in everything I do

he’s often helped me tie my tie

and laces up my shoe.

Fallen folks are all around

watch out where you step

or all of us will have our heels

on each others necks.

The falling man

is near you now,

feel burning down his cheek

the cost of failure overcome

for you are also he.

His back is bent

his head is bowed

brow beat, upon his knees;

the voice that cracks

through blood and pain

does not concede defeat.

And you are also he.

And we are also he.

We are being seduced daily with images and messages intended to create envy. Envy destroys contentment. Raise your awareness of the perils and destructiveness of envy. Read on.

Envy

is a slow poison

in your blood.

Envy kills.

Envy is a collar

around your neck.

To this collar is fastened

a leash,

so long it disappears.

Sometimes you don’t even know it’s there.

This leash is held by a hand.

Each collar has many leashes

controlled by many hands;

some in corporate boardrooms,

others in various capitals

and other chambers of deliberation

and planning.

What plans are being hatched in there?

From time to time a hand

give a leash a jerk

and those who have not cast off the collars

respond as they were trained.

This one to buy, this one to borrow, this one to steal.

This one to sit, this one to speak, this one to take to the streets.

Envy is their collar and their leash.

Envy controls.

Envy is a paradox:

Those who possess envy

cannot be it’s master.

Yet with envy some are able

to master others.

The world rewards such as these

with prestige, power, and luxury;

but even such persons are not free

nor will they be

for though they master envy

envy remains their master.

Envy is

wealth that brings want

freedom that brings debt

food that brings hunger

drink that brings thirst

justice that brings oppression.

How much more abundant

than all of this

is the life without envy

lived.

A similar work by this author: Our Belligerent Personas – listenviewreviewhttps://www.listenviewreview.com/lyric-poetry-rich-visual-imagery/

More works by this author: Good Words and Sunbursts: Vivid Word Art and Lyric Beauty: Morris, Richard K: 9781695688285: Amazon.com: Bookshttps://www.amazon.com/dp/1695688287

For Sarah on her birthday.

Beauty finds me in the shadows of the garden

contemplating beauty as I’ve often done before.

Beauty finds me on the rocks along the ocean

as the waves come rolling gently into shore.

Beauty finds me dreaming eyes wide open

day or night it makes no matter where you are.

Right now I’m sighing in the darkness

like a wistful wisher wishing on a star.

Beauty finds me in the cool of the evening

watching moonlight dance upon the dew.

Beauty finds me once again

as only beauty can

Beauty finds me

and reminds me

I find beauty

wherever I find you.

This writer had the privilege of working with Milford artist Paul Tibedeau for an entry in the 2019 Village Fine Arts Association Poetry Art Night Exhibit and Competition. Paul’s beautiful Plein Air Painting “Tracks in the Snow” was the basis for our entry, and also became the name for the poem which I composed as my part of the competition. See more of Paul’s works at the Facebook group page Paul Tibedeau Fine Art https://www.facebook.com/groups/546573392637394 .

The Poetry Art Night (PAN) combines visual art with poetry to create a unique dynamic that is a treat for your senses and begs you to linger in the gallery of The Suzanne Haskew Arts Center (The SHAC) and take each entry in slowly. PAN 2020 was greatly impacted by the pandemic and featured a virtual exhibit. Calls for entries and tentative plans for plans for PAN 2021 can be found here: /https://milfordvfaa.org/pan2021/

My thanks to Paul and his wife Joanne, to Susan Gollon, Lish Brown, The Village Fine Arts Association, and The Suzanne Haskew Arts Center and all of the visual artists, poets, judges, and visitors for a great experience and a wonderful evening.

I heard not a sound save the wind

I saw no movement in the night

and woke to another cold, grey day.

Upon the frozen ground

beneath a sunless sky

breathing air with no scent

a human can detect,

where all seemed dormant or dead,

weary of this winter

stood I alive.

Alone.

So my senses told me.

Yet the snow bears witness

Life has not fled!

Hearts still beat,

blood still flows.

Warm bodies still make their homes

even hidden in this snow.

Even beneath this sunless sky

upon this frozen ground,

no matter how many cold, grey days.

No matter where you stand

be wearied not;

you are not alone.

Even in our deepest winter

forever are there

tracks in the snow.

For more works of poetry by this writer, click here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1695688287

The octopus and I

met quite by accident

as a rock appeared to have more to it

than a rock

so I paused and looked and saw that reddish knob

move

ever so slightly.

I knew her intent was that I should not see her

atop that rock

in daylight

in open water

for she maintained her imitation

of an outcrop

of a rock

most persistently

and I believe as her eye saw

the recognition

in my eye

she sensed danger

so I considered her predicament

and hovered away

ever so slightly

in my way to say to the octopus

“I am no predator.”

to which she responded

by stretching out her arms

and gliding away

slowly

beneath my gaze

in open water

in daylight

from her hiding place

atop that rock.