“Madonna of Humility” by Kurt Nimmo
reversals of fortune
that convert hubris
to humility become
fortunes of reversal
(originally posted December 2013)
Hubris
All posts tagged Hubris
NOAA Climate Data
inside the sound and the fury
the deafening voice of the storm
mocks the hubris of humans
convinced of their power
to instigate change in
formidable habits of history
driven by forces of nature
inside the sound and the fury
the deafening voice of the storm
drowns the whimpering yelps
of a barely significant species
“Red Dragon” by Milen Tod
the dragons come at midnight
when the guns are asleep
fire rains with the stench of dead angels
humanity thinned of its arrogance
stripped of its guardians
carbonized corpses retaining
no more than stilled shadows of life
fly ash scattered and blown
in the draft of grim leathery wings
man paying the ultimate price for
asserting dominion of nature
what irony unnatural creatures
meta-ethical figments of vengeance
deliver the strike that dethrones him
and yet they find need to come
night after night burning bodies in beds
human hubris so deeply inbred
that acute fears of dragons and death
never last past the morning
each day man climbs back on his throne
spouting same old same vacuous edicts
all lessons of darkness forgotten
From my books Onionskin and Legacies (vol. 2)
“Archaeologists” by Giorgio de Chirico
when they dig us
from under the rubble and ruin
will they find what
it was we forgot to remember
will they know us
from remnant inapt iconography
merely another
failed culture succumbed to disease
a congenital hubris
its weight of gargantuan microbes
sufficient to topple
the temple erected to temperament
long gone astray
of foundational principles leaving
the holy of holies
caved in on its sacredmost parchments
dead documents
turned with the bones of enlightenment
back into dust
in the dark of pre-civilized days
*****************************************
“Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future.”
– Elie Wiesel
From my books Onionskin and Legacies (vol. 2)
“Confessions of Pastel Blue Moons”
Painting by Kazuya Akimoto
From art365.joeuser.com
the fates have been
both kind and cruel
but then so have I
my lot seems on par
no more and no less
than I surely deserve
to improve it would need
me be more often kind
but the math may not work
for the world appears
quite the more filled with
those earned of my wrath
I am not enough holy
to turn aside evil with
love and forgiveness
and so must I settle for
a life of mixed blessings
in pride of my conscience
my hands will forever
form warm open palms
or firm punishing fists
all depends on the minds
that I meet and the content
of character wanting a judge
yet I know that my own
moral hubris is more
than entitles a man
therein lies my deep flaw
the singular weakness
afflicting my soul
I can’t help but react
to the right and the wrong
that surround me
if my joys and distress are
unbalanced they are at least
honest and answerable
when my judgment arrives
I’ll accept and endure all its
consequence free of regret
* * * * *
“Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere.” – G K Chesterton
“Surrealist Man” Painting by Cristiano Siqueira From deviantart.com
he used to hang from the moon
stuff stars in his pockets
chase night from the face of the earth
hurl lightning bolts back to the cosmos
men clamored for his bold imprimatur
angels sat on his shoulders
together they gave righteous escort
protecting the driven and noble
he had powers electric invincible
wielded success like a truncheon
to instigate oomph in the abjectly timid
the dullards unblessed by ambition
then came cold reversal of fortune
disabling his ego with frissons of fear
felled by silence that amputates glory
prosthetic humility simply won’t fit
nothing sadder more tragic
than losing great pieces of self
nothing gladder more suiting
than hubris when brought to its knees
Presidential Range of the White Mountains, New Hampshire
Painting by Samuel Lancaster Gerry
At plymouth.edu
dressed in white granite
treeless peaks mark presidents
cocky aspirants
to nature’s own majesty
humored by human hubris
Poesy plus Polemics 