Passions

PASSIONS On the deck of his life’s boat In a state of confusion Was he sitting Gazing at the horizon of The unknown Dark clouds of doubt were hovering In his puzzling mind His thoughts in disarray were venturing into a labyrinth Of faint speculations The dilemma was his, knowing not where to go The roads of virtue and that of vice before him They stood: Equally appealing Equally accessible Equally demanding! He tried to pierce the veil of life’s mystery With his wondrous, enquiring eyes but Every effort is a sound failure: The riddle persists The obscurity endures The enigma remains. Impatience enters now his troubled psyche and Horrid panic becomes his constant companion. Suddenly, his choleric aimless, and violent passions Snatched the rudder of his life’s boat in their needy: For control Hungry for rule and Thirsty for power Arrogant, reckless hands and In their eagerness to rule over his Disorientated mind, enslaved Reason: The illuminated helmsman Hand-cuffed love: The tender-hearted captain and Tortured understanding: The knowledgeable pilot and Threw overboard benign compassion and Holly mercy. Shortly after, the humane crew of lofty virtues, Subjugated to the newly established tyranny was: Ruthlessly deprived of its power Violently derailed from its course and Brutally twisted in its meaning, To fit passions’ newly adapted schemes, Of infamy Of turmoil Of inconsideration and Of shameful vice. Then, as the sails of vanity and blind temptations Opened wide and The craven wind of uncontrollable urges rushed to Swell them with corrupt impetuous desires, His shaky boat unguided drifted to the open rough sea Of self-destructive indulgence, Through the hurricane of obscure ignorance, Towards the perilous sterile rocks of despicable lust Where it crashed and sank into the abyss of filthy appetites, In the graveyard of lawless souls at which Murky desperation eternally reigns! Ah, if only he had chosen the path of virtue! © Demetrios Trifiatis 18 January 2013