When I'm with Folk

Pais de Moisonneurs, Heirloom Tapestries

When I’m with folk who in the country stay,
I play one smart, cosmopolitan, urbane.
But when with those who in the city dwell
I play the dunce, the peasant.  I treat 'em like hell.
When with the philosophically inclined,
I get emotional and dole the smallest morsels from my mind.
When I am with the blind, I cannot help but see.
Am I perverted and knee deep in misery?

Or is this natural, some kind of balance--
When faced with an extreme, to take a stance
That's quite opposed?  When smelling the sweetest rose--
Why do I think on thee?
Let's laugh a little and hold high our nose.
What else is life but a picture and pose?
We hear that to be good we must empathize,
"This is shit," we think and roll our eyes.

-January 30th, 2024
Theral Timpson