Harpy

It’s not that you’re plain.
There’s more to life than looks,
and they fade soon enough anyway.

It isn’t your dimness I disdain.
Not everyone is into reading books,
and you can function fine day to day.

Your pettiness does cause some pain,
but you grew up amongst liars and crooks,
it’s in your blood, your natural way.

The one thing that shatters my brain
is your shrill voice that finds and hooks
under my nerves till I tremble and sway.

A termagant that none can contain,
who shrieks and screeches and squeals and pukes
bad grammar and fake words and ideas that don’t stay.

As long as possible I shall remain
hidden from such harpies and shrews, in crannies and nooks,
in blissful silence until my dying day.

Wayfarers

We know not who we may meet on the way,
or when those with us are lost astray.

Enjoy the company, while it lasts.
Change comes quickly, it’ll soon be past.

May your travels be interesting, memorable, and fabulous.
May your compatriots be fun and sparkling, not onerous.

At the end of the road be sure to look back
and cherish the friends you’ve made, not the gold in your sack.

Young Catherine

You see me for what I really am.
With you there is no pretense.
I’m opened up and laid to bare,
thus revealing all intents.

I cannot refuse my own evil,
as I lie here next to you.
You love me for all my goodness,
and my demons, you love them too.

How can love so pure, so very bright
bring my darkness to the surface?
Yet not balk at the stark contrast,
and not even stop to notice?

You are a puzzle, my dear Catherine,
inexplicable in your simplicity.
And I pray to God that I always protect
you from my corrupt complicity.

Growth

If I am kind today, it is because
I have seen what cruelty can do.
Though I am charming today,
I was once repulsive in my youth.

I am alive today for I was deemed
worth sparing by a higher soul.
I am a man today because someone saw
gentleness within that ghoul.

I have hope today since I saw it once
in the eyes of she who had nothing.
I forgive you today because I was you,
and I know how you are hurting.

The world is quick to judge, to vilify,
to hate and lynch like a mob.
Nurturing is much harder though,
and often a two-man job.

You have my wrath, I can see
my own anger burning in your eyes.
But you also have my loving warmth,
and wisdom beyond the skies.

Do not be discouraged if you do not like
how you find yourself today.
Know that you will in time become
a greater man than me one day.

Humility

I am humble, I am small.
I slouch so I’m not so tall.

I am kind, considerate, and I care.
To none ill will shall I bear.

When the cards are counted and the tally complete,
no one would be found more humble than me.

For I have sacrificed and suffered and slogged,
the world is my inheritance, my glory to hog.