Vanity

God offered me omnipotence

by giving me a chance to choose

I stood bold stance, and took that chance

to ever walk within his shoes

 

He then offered me five choices

Pleasure, Fame, Riches, Love, and Death

I will have won, when it's all done

so I thought as I caught my breath

 

Then so it was I chose Pleasure

with the thought to enjoy my youth

To run with boys, through all life's joys

happiness was my only truth

 

Pleasures that youth delights upon

were disappointing, then grew cold

Sun setting play, that every day

trickled my fingers through, like gold

 

So once again he came to me

"surely wisdom has found you now

Now choose your fate, it's not too late

as I said, this I will allow"

 

"Fame" I said as he smirked at me

I wish to be a man renowned

To play the game, that touts my name

as one deserving of the crown"

 

But Fame was a fickle master

that led to Envy, Greed and Lust

A shinning star and giant car

that in the end had turned to rust

 

Once more God offered me a choice

of the few things that still remain

"Besides your birth, there's one of worth

try using your heart, not your brain"

 

"Riches then" I did say to him

"surely they can cure all my pain

To do what I can as a man

by amassing what I may gain"

 

Wealth was not the answer I sought

left me with none of what I'd won

When in the end, I had no friend

to rejoice in what I had done

 

So one last time he gave me choice

"Love" I said is what I would like

"A woman's chest, where I may rest

perhaps even a little tyke"

 

The time it passed so quickly by

as I then sat beside her grave

A-wash in tears, for all those years

spent chasing dreams, that none could save

 

"My life has run it's course old man

your final choice is the worst yet"

"My love I lost, at such a cost

all that's left of me is regret"

 

He said "since you have not asked me

for advice on what you should do

I gave Death in a dying breath

to one more deserving than you"

 

" Why won't you grant me rest" I said

"what more is there for me to learn"

" That a life of greed serves no need

live with old age, till it's your turn"

Author's Note

It is always the bitterest of pills That which makes us look at ourselves for who we truly are. Not for the one we wished to be. Like many I am no stranger to vanity.LOL We do not deal much in facts when we are contemplating ourselves.
Life has taught me there are three ways we are perceived.
1. The way we see ourselves
2. The way others see us.
3. The way we truly are

Reviews

[Susan 🦋]

Omgoodness! So much here to contemplate!.. the overall theme is the endless "missed" opportunities granted to us in this lifetime!...and why must it take a lifetime for some of us to finally get it. For me your STAND OUT line is

" I gave Death in a dying breath
to one more deserving than you"
WOW, my take..Heaven, the ultimate reward.
BUT, there IS a hint of understanding....There is always hope when you rise each morning and face a new day! LOVE this!! A wonderful read!!! thank you very much! :-)

[Tate Morgan]

Susan thank you fir stopping by and commenting it's nice to meet you I am Tate

[Susan 🦋]

I really enjoyed this piece! Hope to read more soon.

[Tate Morgan]

Stop by any time I have been absent for some time from here. I go through spurts when i write and then i stop. I am recovering from one of those where I took time to let the well refill itself

[Marie]

This poem could only have gone one way...I could see it coming. Choosing gifts that pall means losing the ones that last.

[Distant horizons]

Probably the best example of a complete poem in every aspect i have ever read. This is an autobiography that in so few words could beat the most literary of minds. By that I mean that my favourite memoir/autobiographies have always been those of the great story tellers, like Sir peter Ustinov, but this tells just as much about the man as any weighted tome ever could. I wouldn't insult you by saying that this is your best, i'll leave that judgement until i've read them all.
PS, apologies if I have left a comment previously on this, it feels so familiar yet refreshingly new.

[Tate Morgan]

Twain was noted for saying a poem can say more in a quatrain than prose can in a chapter Thank you

[Kimberly "Melody" Carne..]

This is an amazing and humbling poem. I have read many of your poems and the clarity you experience by time you get to the last line…well it is beyond what one would expect. We all need to stop every now and again to reflect were we wanted to go and were we have been. Your precise wording and rhythmic clarity give a little boost to remind me…who I am and who I want to be. For that gift wrapped into words in perfect poetry I am grateful. Tate thank you for taking the time to put in rhyme the reminders in life we all need to see.

[A Soap Mess Stories]

Love how you started this writing....

[...]

I have only read a few of your poems but they have left me inspired and intrigued and I will be back! This was beautiful tate!!!

[Katrina Mckeown]

A truely inspirational piece, you certainly have a way of expressing wisdom!
A well penned thought provoking piece! thanks for sharing! :)

[Honey54]

wow the song perfectly set off this inspiring poem...it made alot of sense and your authors review made even more sense...I want to thankyou for sharing this with me...It made me question alot of thing i treasure in life..I was just discussing these things to a dear friend of mine...sometimes you look at shiny things and at that moment it seems like sunshine...but it never liVes up to that standard...GREAT WRITE !!

[Maria.F.T]

This makes sense to my mind.

[the_stoic]

this piece of write here encompasses all the essence of life .. goes into my library and i will always cherish it !

[Dane Osborne]

Tate, This was a very wise and thoughtful poem. All these things people go through their lives devoting themselves to are really just facades, We lose our sense of self and identity through false wants. But it sneaks into our consciousness in such a snakey way, doesn't it?