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Contests : Margaret Reid Poetry Contest : Past Winners : 2008 : Most Highly Commended
FEAR'S PROFITEER
Strapped to the powerful swift steed of fear
From warm sunlight to dark clouds we veer;
Finding myself in a realm ineffably queer.
Here forever or is it just one long daunting year?
Time—a ludicrous creation to all who enter here.
Encapsulated in a suffocating vanishing sphere
The size of despair's last forlorn evaporating tear.
To both the groping blind man and the clever seer
The path to peace from here can never be clear.
Forever trapped, impaled on hate's hot spear.
Burning in agony my flesh continuously will sear.
Strung up in a ghastly dank putrid darkness I peer;
To see the frightening countenance of horror leer.
From the shadows he draws agonizingly near;
Deformed, old, crooked, fetid, disgusting and sere.
He gushes his filthy sordid breath with a sneer.
The overwhelming effluvium, all goodness does smear.
Devouring with alacrity my rotting happiness and cheer.
He knows at my core what I love and hold dear.
Effortlessly from them my being he will shear.
Profoundly aware of the weakness of my righteous veneer.
He grabs my soul; his grip tight, excruciating, severe.
I scream in my misery, "Why God send me here?"
The wretch answers, "I tell you true, just lend me your ear,
You were not sent you fool, you were a willing volunteer.
You and your kind—go live a life good, selfless, austere.
Pray the day gone to a lost God you deceptively revere.
But He does not exist without your spark, you are His engineer.
You create Him from a dust so trivial, trifling and mere.
But no matter how good, loving and kind you appear;
How well you profess a faith copious and premier;
If you do not feel it in your marrow with a spirit sincere
You are condemned to ride the mighty charger of fear.
As the hounds of anxiety drive you to the gate of my dark frontier.
Where I will welcome you as your fate I commandeer.
To live in hate, agony and despair with me in eternity here."
The ravenous mangled mess of his minions in concert jeer.
Closing the gate tight behind he laughs and laughs—love's mutineer.
Turning to suck on my soul until it exists no more...fear's profiteer.
This poem won a Most Highly Commended award in the 2008 Margaret Reid Poetry Contest sponsored by Tom Howard Books. Author Joseph Gorman received a $100 award. Winning Writers assists this contest. Copyright is reserved to the author.
About Joseph Gorman
Joe Gorman is a surgeon and cardiovascular scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in a suburb of Philadelphia with his wife Patti and their five children. The family enjoys the beach in summer and skiing/snowboarding in winter. He writes poetry as a hobby.
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