Nothing is truly as it seems,
All the floss, gloss, and high beams.
This stage is for actors who are merely
playing their parts hoping for a bigger part.
Man journeys across Earth each day, wrestling with an ego he can't tame.
Art imitates life's reflection as a mirror bitterly shows the same.
Inauthenticity casts a false glow,
While darkness within a transfixed heart binds, and the soul cries.
Yes! The soul cries loudly at first in the rebellious child,
Then all too quickly, that cry fades to a faint whimper.
And just like that, the show ends, and the curtains fall.
Stumbling and sometimes falling are part of it
In this walk, the path can be replete with tests
To walk with your head hanging low would be unfit
Be prudent and trust the process
So fail upward when you fall
Pick yourself up and answer the call
Fail upward when you fall
Even if you have to start again with a crawl
Dust off very well
Now walk upright and tell your tale
A testimony is preceded by only a test
Don't hesitate to unfurl what's in your chest
Fail upward when you fall
Tidy yourself, square your shoulders, and stand tall
Speak and live from the heart
And inauthenticity, please soon depart
So when you stumble or fall
Straighten up, dust off, and answer the call
Why are some unable to see
What is right in front of their eyes
The manipulation and hypocrisy
Blatant deceit and outright lies
The inauthenticity of a human soul
Pretending to be ,only to gain
Righteous and so pure of heart
Just playing a dishonest game
Empty words portraying kindness
Meaningless and untrue
Why are some unable to see
When an imposter is in clear view!
i am the being
the craftsman
the caution
circumstance and workshop
are 'mine' caring...
absence and question
are light of the world
a place to create
entanglement
with the 'mineness'
of others...
life and death
appointment
from birth
as articulators
of 'what' and 'how'
'is' to be done...
these are outshone
by the light of question
and the authenticity of 'why'
remains 'mineness'
of mine...dying from birth
out of reach of the others
ripening on a tree
of caution and absence...
irrelevance to the world
and nothingness of space
openness of light
and inauthenticity of 'they'
we never actually experience...
deaths knock...when the 'mine' is gone
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.