Winter Play

Rich Man:


"Where are you going, my friend?


Your satchel hangs loose, your frayed
Clothes hang on by threads,
Your flesh clings dearly to your
Hollowed-out bones and haggard face;
Your brow once dark now frosted
With ice; your lips once red
Now caked with snow, as blue
As the shadows of ice on a 
Sunny winter morn..


Where are you going, my friend?
And why are you unhappy?"


Poor Boy:


"If there was but sadness in this world
Would I know sadness? If there was mere
Darkness, would i feel blind?
Kind sir, speak no more! Let me
Be on my way.. I bear no ill will
As I have none to bear; but bear i must
My misfortunes till I crumble
And this white powder be then
My casket of ivory.


(pauses, deep in contemplation)


I go to fish in the lake, kind sir,
For who so kind as 
Nature itself (whose nature it is)
To care for those who have succumbed
To her frosty temper,
A ruthless queen in her mighty prime!"


Rich Man:


"Your words are harsh, my friend
But true.. Another i will share
With you, if you would grant me
Audience. For I have not yet
Supped as you, and the pangs
Of hunger irk me too."


Poor Boy:


To sup with you would be
Divine, but wings of eagles
Soaring high, are clipped; and so
Too would mine be, for today's
Miracle would be tomorrow's
Curse, and neither could I
Reimburse you for your aid:
I must refuse.


We help a lot of people in our lives. We affect them whether we want to or not - our lives are not intertwined with theirs but in the circle of life we are but a mere tangent.. to touch theirs once and never again for all eternity. Let us not forget the hopes and prayers of the less fortunate and the expectations they have of their respective Creators and try to extrapolate the season of giving into a lifetime of giving. As with the young boy in the tale, let us not be responsible for giving an atheist a glimpse of heaven, only for him to realize his reality is hell.


Best wishes to you all for 2011..
A.C.