A Neglected Face of Profundity
Once upon a time
was one / who under-
stood life’s mysteries
Stood under the lof-
ty over pass / pon-
dered the things above
And spoke his words ab-
stractly / standing be-
tween concrete pillars
His hands armed with a
healing touch / and with
that, the touch of love
Longed to share his soul
in short / with all the
others passing by
Although he spoke ov-
er their heads / they saw
him as one beneath
He gave them all what
they needed / but they
would not receive it
Because in the end
no one believes / a
man who’s missing teeth
Brushing over what
he said / while they were
foaming out their mouths
These so-called seekers
of truth / were blinded
by his missing tooth
And spit at the per-
ception / of the gaps
in his countenance
And flossed over his
words / as if they had
wisdom (teeth) since youth
Overlooking their
checkered lives / squared with
crimson and blackness
Filling their mouths with
silver things / and crown-
ing themselves like kings
Drilling into his
past / they meant to dent
his reputation
Claimed themselves merely
partial / to the fresh-
ness clarity brings
He wished to heal them
but they kept laughing,
aghast / at his smile
Their root of evil
dwelt beneath / their cav-
ity of errors
Amalgamated
their forces / to rid
themselves of his talk
No cap to their mad-
ness, they vexed / this
toothless man with terrors
Few words were implant-
ed / the scope of his
vision receded
And under the ov-
erpass / died the man
with the missing tooth
Though rarely extract-
ed / his gleam of in-
sight never decayed
Now a plaque on the
bridge / serves as a re-
tainer for his truth
© 2010 J. Marshall