King of Pain

A small poem I wrote in July 2013.

My portrait hangs in the halls of shame,

My soul jaded by fortune and fame.

Woe, yes! for even though I am king,

There’s no one to give my diamond ring.

I am the incarnation of hubris

Not a single person for me to share,

My wealth or my love, not even an heir.

This crown, this scepter and this dismal throne,

I would give it all, to not be alone.

But I am the lord and slave of snafu

Grey-haired, lined-faced, reflections of Cain.

Oh, what sweetest joy is my most dire pain!

I am a prisoner of the mind,

Product of societies design.

I am a frog prince, needing true love’s kiss

This feeling inside I cannot bare,

A witch’s brood of pride and despair.

A vagabond? Worse, Nero of Rome!

There is no haven for me to call home.

But still I dream: to love and be loved too.

Author's Note

I encourage you to comment and review this piece as well as any other material I have submitted.

Reviews

[BlueZan]

This is lyrical and beautiful. Painful yet hopeful. I re-read it a few times to try to catch all of the emotions and it read as a voice in my head, reassuring and grounded and lovely. I'm going to read more, now =)

[Gedalya]

Thank you. I'm glad that you see a duality involved. By all means, go for it, lol Writers wouldn't be writers if they didn't read also.

[zainul]

I am very glad to note that your small poem has a very big meaning drawn from life.
It strongly focused on the necessity of love in the life of everyone.
My most favorite line is:
"But still I dream: to love and be loved too."

[Lydia Shutter]

The romantic longing in this poem is palpable! The literary references are so effective. Good rhyming. I enjoyed it. Lydi**

[Will Neill]

Empathy and Pain can keep us focused.Nice work.
Will

[Gedalya]

Empathy, without it, this poem would fall flat on it's face. Everyone at some point in life can relate to the feeling- well, let me put it this way.
I've never feared failure. . .
I have always feared success.
I am grateful for the have-not. It is almost a shame that misery is more joyous than joy itself, I suppose it is because of the aspiration behind it. When there is a longing, there is a goal in mind. When you reach the ceiling, there's nowhere else to go except back down.

[Gedalya]

Unless you're a balloon lol

[Raymond Federle]

A very good poem! I like just about any thing with a kind of a fantasy back ground flavor to it. "My portrait hangs in the halls of shame, My soul jaded by fortune and fame." Excellent line. Well done! :)

[Gedalya]

Thank you, I really appreciate your appraise. A hook is always needed, it just so happened that I had many stuffed in my ears, pockets, well. . . you get the idea. lol

[Nusquam Esse]

The idea behind this is nice; and several of these lines are great. I really liked "A vagabond? Worse, Nero of Rome!" I also liked your usage of the word 'Hubris', a classic of Greek literature which is not used often enough; it carries so much more weight than mere pride. All in all a good poem!

[Gedalya]

I couldn't agree with you more, I wanted to capture the idea of "Epic", and certain things such as references to Nero and Hubris made that possible. There are many words that, as well as old idioms that people overlook that can really emphasize the meaning of the poem.

[SquinklaPsyOps]

I agree with Sami Khalil "I think you are a lyricist and song write."

[Gedalya]

I'm still trying to understand if this is a good thing, lol I think that my poetry works best when confined. I always measure everything before proceeding. . . that is my golden rule.

[Sami Khalil]

'I am a frog prince, needing true love’s kiss




This feeling inside I cannot bare,

A witch’s brood of pride and despair.'

That was a good twist on the story ...:)......................

[Gedalya]

I like to think that I was inspired mostly by Poe, Blake, Dante and Milton (among others) yet occasionally a bit of that Shakespearean in me comes out, lol

[Gedalya]

This was based largely on my old ambitious nature, before I was married and had a daughter and the overall sense of being alone with ambition inside of me, thumping away. You never notice how silent and still life is when you are still trying to exorcise a demon. I realized early after my daughter was born, that all of my time spent on a career was meaningless. That wasn't the fruit I had to offer. . . it was life itself. When in the end, it is those we love the most that become the legacy we leave behind. It's like climbing the highest mountain alone, with no one to experience the sight below and the sense of triumph with you. It's pointless. Now, I can gladly look back at myself and shake my head, lol I'd rather be family peasant than a king again any day.

[Sami Khalil]

Wow. Wonderful to know and share...You are welcome...:)...................

[Sami Khalil]

Other than a poet I think you are a lyricist and song write. This was a good one too...:).........................

[Gedalya]

This actually originated for an old song I had written while in the studio. I've had the opportunity to teach music at a regional university. I've spent 10 years of life on it, lol But now, I'm very much involved with many other things and have had to neglect it.
By the way, If you were to study the form of most of my poetry, I typically use the Terza Rima. It can be very difficult to master, but it is a very useful structure.