He sat atop his marble throne
In silks of radiant hue.
His enemies, to wolves he'd thrown
His decrees were swift and true.

In his right hand he held power to love
In his left, the power to destroy.
Atop his towering throne above
Iron grip he did employ.

He came from nothing and now had all
And cut down a thousand men.
Saw the rise of brutes and fall
And vowed to rid the world of them.

Atop his regal pedestal of stone
On the backs of nameless men.
Alone atop that white marble bone
A tyrant sat just as back then.

I peer out again
To the courtyard outside my window
Where I face the many neighbors
I never see

I see evidence of life
But never life itself

Sometimes, I wonder.
If I live in a vacant building
Alone amongst spirits
With a sunlit Courtyard
All for me

There is a sadness to the cheater
Whether he be a cheater of love
Or knowledge
Of ideas or simply looks.

Done maliciously,
A cheater can hurt
They can steal
And their conduct
Can sting.

But some cheaters,
Most cheaters,
Are afraid
Afraid of what
They do not have.

Corner cutters
And "good enough" types
Too afraid to give it their all
There is a battle of thought within them,
To take something else when they believe,
They can't meet expectations alone.

Pity the cheaters that act out of fear
Their hearts are made of paper
And their courage is held up with wire
Resorting to steal and lie because
They do not trust themselves.

Hatred is not evil
It is a spawn of evil
Born from it
Caused by it

Like a knife
It is wielded
By some who want peace
And others destruction

Do not hate hate
Grip it tightly
Master it
And let it set the fires

Within your soul

It takes a village to raise a child.
Conversely, it takes a village
To destroy a child.
And that child
Whom the village
Does not embrace
Will burn it down
To feel its warmth