A honeybee told me, "It isn't funny.
Men are stealing and selling my honey".
I asked, "Well, what can I do for yer?"
He said, "Go out and find me a lawyer,
and get me back my money".
Compensation is given only as much
as the market price decides;
even if a lifetime has passed,
mixing blood and sweat into the soil
to build a home or a field—
the value of blood, the value of sweat
is not determined,
there is no price for them in the market.
Compensation is not given even for the nests
hanging on the trees, for the broken
eggs, for the dying newborn birds
either; the lush green grass
that is life for some creatures,
some shelters that lie
beneath the clusters of trees—
but compensation
for them too is not given.
The winds too receive no compensation;
wind, water, and life have no rights—
these are for the sake of the country,
whose true meaning the capitalists understand.
They have the right
to buy all shelters
for just one rupee.
Compensation will be borne by the country;
the country has no right
to take the full price.
Whatever was given to whomever,
even that much is fixed for them;
the rest is their right—
those whose names it is not my right to take.
Compensations
Compensations for
those spat on or
were bullied: glow in
the dark expressions, grasshopper identity (for
one day only), free tickets to
the birth of bees at
The Big Bee Hive tourist attraction in
Elmwood, and
become an
Activity Manager of the
low-lying clouds.
Is memory a way of compensation
To the life we lead
Is experience a way of compensation
To the time we lost
Is evaluation a way of compensation
To the effort we put in
Is maturity a way of compensation
To the aging process every man has to face
Oh, compensation there is
Oh, God says
Is that fair and square
As every has it share
Is my finger broken or has arthritis set in?
It’s swollen, pink, sore and no longer thin.
The nurse asked if I fell. I say no.
Then I remembered the day of the snow.
I fell on concrete steps. If hurt a great deal.
It happened at work, but here is my real…
I went through workman’s comp a long time ago.
With every claim the answer was no.
They would not pay most of my bills.
Not for the wheelchair or for the pills.
Two thousand dollars that accident cost me.
Yes, at home last month, I lied to Nurse Bee.
As human beings
We all want everything to be effortless
And to have the world
But only if it’s free
The mere thought of this
Is preposterous scrutiny
But I realize....this is how you see me
Repeatedly declaring the fact
You are single....
But lay beside me every night
Still believing it’s alright to mingle
The definition casual means just that....
It comes with no home cooked meals
Or routine nightly sexual sessions
No domesticated duties of any kind
Yet you think I will grant this
To keep progressing
And allow you to keep lounging
On benefits without sacrifice
And no sacrifice with privileges
Apparently you must presume
We live in a gated village
Such a unproductive state
To continue to portray
A misleading commitment
That was doomed from the beginning
Nothing comes without a price
And I certainly come with great cost and consequence
My emotions aren’t on the market
As a donation that you can
Keep using for handout
You provide no motivation
For complimentary compensation
God compensates for their suffering, all those who toil for love!
© Demetrios Trifiatis
10 November 2018
The wind has blown for days today
And I see no bird in flight
Nor the big trees swayed in the wind
And neither have I
She's an angel out of heaven
One of the very few
If love could not melt her heart
What good the sword would do
Paper cuts the knife
I say I'm a little drunk now
Its a symbol a sign she says
A drink of life that's how
Coal starts a morning fire she says
Love begins temptations
But what can I do darling
Everything's got its compensation
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.