Evil

Evil is often seen as a guiding light.

Evil

 

There are many shades of gray

vying to be white

where contrasting shadows may

masquerade as  light.

 

To what varying degree

may we trust all that we see?

 

Sometimes evil guides our way

to a greater plight

if we trade a lesser ray

for one not as bright.

 

What alluring fantasy

shall we praise on bended knee?

 

Foolish minions swept away

by a false delight

shall incur a Judgment Day

from a truer might.

 

Will the Sun in time decree

that our Flame won't set us free?

 

Behold animated clay

vying for a fight.

Hate and anger on display

shall inherit blight.

 

Must we feud and disagree

to the point we cease to be?

Reviews

[Avinash]

There is no compromise, no soothsaying, until we purify our heart and soul out of greed and selfishness that light will remain elusive and we will continue to remain reinforcement to darkness and evil.

[Aethereal]

Thanks for your insightful review, Avinash! Your comment inspired me to write the following:

Loss

In their quest to gain the world,
they lose their heart and soul.
They trade a tiny part of life
surrendering the whole.

[Avinash]

There was sure a time
when men could converse in verses
and women were pond of love and kindness
the faded print of those
still carries in our soul

[Aethereal]

Thanks for returning another poem to me, Avinash. Sometimes a faded print brings forth an incarnation that would otherwise have been lost within the fog of time.

[Avinash]

That's how every seed has grown into big tree. All that is required is a perfect gardener a protector.
The world lost the template for happiness long back. We can at least give our best shot at least through words.

[Aethereal]

Many mustard seeds are cast to the winds of fate. If one takes root, it my revive this long lost template.

[lee von cleef]

Following Frieda, Not by intent, she just knows the right spot to be naturally. Here on Earth , (The Devils World) we are free to choose , and boy do I blow it. But you have pulled the curtian back to show us a little view of O Z, smashing write !

[Aethereal]

Thanks, lee! I'm happy that you enjoyed this little poem about the 'Devil's World'. We each live according to our inner light.

[lee von cleef]

Or so we think ?

[Aethereal]

We try to anyway against nearly impossible odds. It's enough that we try.

[lee von cleef]

It is good to think, to be open, to feel, to choose, not follow, but set our hour clock our own way.

[Frieda P]

I like your shades of gray here and the questioning within....'animated clay', what a striking image and so much it conjures up in the mind, we can be molded by light and/or dark so very easily it seems.

Foolish minions swept away
by a false delight
shall incur a Judgment Day
from a truer might.

Love this stanza, outstanding read.

[Aethereal]

Thanks for this detailed review with its quotes and all, Frieda! Animated clay was inspired by Genesis. So many times throughout history foolish minions have been swept away leaving the Chosen behind.

[Frieda P]

Inspiring read, my pleasure Aethereal...

[Sasha]

beautiful words ..
keep it up :)

[Aethereal]

Thanks, Sasha! Beautiful words are what I'm all about.

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

So much truth here... Socially speaking, you write of the "silver tounge"; the idea that sometimes the devil is dressed in the brightest and best robes. We must be careful what we choose as truth and really look at things from all angles before making decisions.

Must we feud and disagree
to the point we cease to be? -- great lines

Sadly, I think your final lines ellucidate the very nature of the "human condition". It seems that we were beings not created for peace...though it is a dream I share. Well done.

[Aethereal]

Thanks for your kind and detailed review, Sarah! Perhaps we are beings bent on self-extinction. This could be the reason why outer space isn't filled with radio waves from others like us throughout our galaxy. When they finally develop weapons of mass destruction they use 'em or they destroy the planet's ecology upon which they depend. Intelligence is self-extinguishing.

[Tom]

I rate this poem very highly, the image it brings to my mind is the incessant greed for money and material wealth that society seems to perpetually crave and they will quite literally sell their very own souls to get it and yours and mine too if it comes to that!

Brilliant poem, one of my favourite writes so far !

[Aethereal]

Thanks for your detailed review, Tom! It's also the incessant fear of poverty, loss, and death and the panic that comes with that fear that leads people to do irrational things that result in exactly the opposite of what they intended. Greed, hate, anger, arrogance, lack of empathy, and violence creates social instability that brings on poverty, loss, and premature death for everyone. We also have the epic phenomena of human beings killing each other over mystical disagreements concerning what we must do to insure good karma after we die, and thus many of us die all the sooner. I'd think that violence in all of its forms is bad karma, and that we should start with that.

[Tom]

Couldn't agree more and thanks for renewing by faith in human beings I'd nearly given up hope for this species!

[Rita L. Sev]

That first stanza is gold. We are a society that is so confused by what true goodness is, and therefore cannot recognize real evil.

Must we feud and disagree
to the point we cease to be?

An important question. I hope we figure out a better solution... Very thoughtful write here, Aethereal.

[Aethereal]

Thanks for your detailed review, Rita! Your statements summarize the gist of what this poem signifies. We live in a society where people are so confused that they glorify their victimizers. The glorified predator mesmerizes his prey to such a degree that they walk into the Belly of the Beast all by themselves, smiling.

[Karen]

Sometimes there is a fine line between what is perceived as evil and what is interpreted as "shades of grey," and I'm not sure which is worse, to know for sure that something is what it is, or to live in uncertainty. Of course, I could be reading too much into this poem, but I like poetry that makes me think! Thanks.

[Aethereal]

Thanks, Karen! But the lightest shade of gray that we're aware of becomes our white, and that might not be white enough. Perhaps it's camouflage for a gray wolf who looks somewhat like a lamb cuz his prey know no lighter shade.

[Karen]

Good point. I was taking it the other way but you are right about whether our "white" is actually white enough, or do we fall quite short of pure white?

[Aethereal]

That is we fall for power hungry personalities who fall quite short of pure white, but not the shade of gray what we perceive as pure white.

[Marie]

Yes, we will always feud and disagree...but that's what makes us human. WIthout it we mght cease to be...

[Aethereal]

Thanks Marie! But if we continue to feud and disagree in conjunction with hate and anger mixed with weapons of mass destruction then we might feud our species into extinction. If we could trade peaceful elocution for violence in our attempt to resolve our disagreements, then perhaps we'll have a chance. When I look at the world stage these days, all I read about is violence begetting violence. Peaceful elocution is a rara avis.

[Sami Khalil]

A splendid read and write on evil. Thank you for posting...:)

[Aethereal]

Thanks, Sami! I'm reminded of evil each day I look at news stories from around the world.

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome...:)