Parallel Lives

You should know
I’m not who I am
The one who you see living an everyday life
Being paid for the job he’s doing 
Sometimes with pains in his back 
Or in his knees
The triumph of stupidity giving him migraine headaches  
He who reads the papers and hears the news
And drinks with his friends or alone
And smokes an old pipe secretly so his wife doesn’t know
He who worries about the lives of kids 
And struggles to write the unwritten 
 
I am a man who makes his life far from here
Who explores unknown places in the earth
Who nips in the bud monstrous hurricanes 
Who holds a tight leash on flooding rivers and spins energy 
To light up the night
Who reveals through the cosmos the history of creation
Who helps find the names for new stars 
Who takes protons apart like shelling walnuts
Entering through quarks 
To get at matter’s secrets
Who can make the dumb speak and deaf hear 
Tuning in to the world’s cacophony 
Who appears in the path of barbarian hordes
And crushes them
Who destroys wild dictators 
The minute they step away from their thrones
And people wake up smiling 
Who finds the roots of medicines for each disease 
Who undoes the greenhouse effect 
Saving the world from global warming
And in the evening
After conducting a giant orchestra 
And a chorus of a million children in the Sahara desert
That he has caused to blossom with olive trees and oranges 
Returns to his home 
To lie only a little bit tired 
Near the quiet breathing of his beloved wife.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2011



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Date: 1/7/2014 1:20:00 AM
Betim, Congratulations... xox..PD
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Date: 4/23/2013 7:15:00 PM
This is breathtaking and potent. Congrats on your super win~A.O
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Date: 4/23/2013 4:29:00 PM
Betim this is awesome.....congratulations... I love especially the last two lines
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Date: 4/22/2013 6:42:00 PM
:-) congratulations with your awesome "SELF PORTRAIT" poem. Take Care ~ PD
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Date: 4/22/2013 5:52:00 PM
I think you are a man who I would be honored to know! :) I love this poem so much! What a privilege to share this spot with you.....my congrats to you on this wonderful poem!
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Date: 1/8/2011 1:48:00 PM
Super hero...Interesting work..Sara
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Date: 1/8/2011 1:38:00 PM
OH my, where have you been hiding your talent? This is outstanding. It made me sad, yet thrilled as well...BG
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