the outshining

“dashing” when he was younger,

with muscles ripped & a razor sharp intellect,

a sense of humor that could make the room roar &

the demeanor of a man on the way to certain

success,

whatever path he took.

 

and some hands are played just perfectly at the table,

some shine just like he did,

with absolutely every move gaining envy &

the ability to make a mistake that would not end up in some way

profitable for him,

just not a factor in the game.

 

now so “distinguished” &

reveling in the rewards of his early right moves,

he walks with a head held high &

an air about him that lets the world know

that he understands his place in it,

as one to be looked up to

when needing an example of one who has

“made something of himself”---

 

but just a few minutes ago,

his sky fell &

when it happened, he had to keep his composure,

saving face on the outside,

while fumbling in a brand new state of confusion.

 

burning up inside &

grasping for the quickest way to improve

his newfound state of affairs,

he looks upon the face of a man who is

more distinguished &

in meeting him,

he understands that it would take another lifetime to

become greater than this man &

the fact that he will never be able to do so

crushes his pride &

fills him with a sense of discomfort, vulnerability &

anger,

the kind of which he has never known before.

 

a second punch to the gut much worse than the first,

is when the outshined man

undergoes the process in public,

that is, when he sees the more distinguished man

take something that he himself wanted

with more ease & possibility

than he ever could have imagined &

when it happens,

other people watch him

(and now he feels all the eyes changing from adoration to

something else)---

be it a patch of land, a bundle of stocks, a new

toy, a trip to the new space station just built,

a beautiful woman or a beautiful man,

all it takes is one thing that this man who thought that he could have

everything,

to know that there are now limits on how far he can rise,

that there are limits on how much he will be worshiped by others for

his success,

because he has been

outshined.