(Though this sonnet is written using the male pronoun, in the poet’s experience with our culture it is the females who are almost universally afflicted with this demon ~ to a degree absolutely destructive of their own happiness as well as that of everyone unfortunate enough to be close to them)
*****
Recorded Work: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1eqn2706xcydhv8/the%20most%20corrosive%20influence%20of%20all.wav?dl=0
*****
The Most Corrosive Influence of All
The Devil hath a name ~ ’tis Jealousy —
The most corrosive influence of all!
With what we have, we discontented be
Placing upon it little worth, withall,
Whilst envying another man his car,
His wife, his home, his job, his everything —
Gazing, not nearly round, but ever far
In wish that foreign fortune easement bring
To our own petty day to day concerns
Not crediting the other with the same
Thinking fate’s visage favorably turns
Toward him, nor puts his high hopes in flame
Not understanding that oppressors be
Among the most unhappy that we see
*****
Among us, poets are ill paid. In order to continue her work, this one currently lives in her minivan, on an income of a fraction of our nation’s poverty level. If her work has moved, enabled or uplifted you, a contribution to this effort may be made at: https://www.gofundme.com/kx4xka-are-you-a-patron-of-the-arts
*****
Troubador of Verse 