October Poems 2024 >> the measure of a man  

A poem for each day of the month in which I was born    
   
October 12    
the measure of a man      
   
an ounce short here, an ounce short there: no one    
shall notice that my measure has a dent.    
there's no more guilt; i am self-confident    
no one is hurt by these small gains i've won.    
   
and what are words when, fluid on the tongue,    
they mix and mingle slightly out of turn?    
just like the wind, they pause not where they burn:    
who knows not truth knows naught whence lies have sprung.    
   
the smile that parts your lips sparks not your eyes,    
for, lo, it shields a dagger in its clutch    
of slander, curse, and malice; and of such,    
ingenuine as the lips on which it dries.    
   
how hard you seek the fame you think i own!    
convinced that i should be the lesser being,    
a commoner, of all the things you've seen,    
measuring up where chewed bones are not thrown.    
   
the measure of a man is as the feast    
he measures to his neighbour or his slave;    
the emptiness he carries to his grave    
harvests him with the greatest or the least.    
   
© Copyright 2024 October 10    
by Clyve A. Bowen♫