Misery Doesn’t Always Love Company
Mark A. McDonald
Copyright © 2009 by Mark A. McDonald.
Library of Congress Control Number:
2009911245
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-4415-9239-2
Softcover
978-1-4415-9238-5
Ebook
978-1-4500-0401-5
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
This book was printed in the United States of America.
To order additional copies of this book, contact:
Xlibris Corporation
1-888-795-4274
www.Xlibris.com
Orders@Xlibris.com
70820
Contents
Life
Change
My Mother’s Chair
Why
Complacency
Thief
For You (Thanks to an employer)
Dance
Free
Red
Love
Jackie
Relief
Consequence
Do You Really?
Just before Dawn
Passion
Siren
Discontent
Yesterday
Hardship
Path
Elián
Drain
Drive
My Sovereignty, a dilemma
The Deciding Factor
Faith
FOE
Indifference
Forever
Traitor
My Shame
Faith
The Rose
Master of My Fate
Anguish
Taint
Truth
Pain
Distress
Within
Race
The Only One
Introspection
Advent
Esteem
Me
CAT
Eventually
The Person I Knew
My Fire
Average
Et Al
Left, Right, Wrong?
How Can You, Mozart?
What Would You Say
Ode
Doubt
Closer
For Jackie & Amy
Life
We constantly wade through the toil and the strife
Where is my lighthouse, my guide
Life compromising!
Life unbecoming!
Life—I find you lacking!
But I digress . . .
“We must make an effort to implement positive changes in our lives
And not just sit and watch the days go by”
Change
Are you willing to, in your life
Facilitate change?
Are you willing to go through possible hardship
To earn its wage?
Or succumb to the crime of indifference
And invite its rage?
“Everyone needs a place where they can go to temporarily
Forget and relax”
My Mother’s Chair
I really enjoy sitting in this chair
It gives me such comfort
It gives me such peace
All chaos around me cease
Nothing gets to me, frustration the least
When I’m sitting in this chair
No matter how angry, malicious or negative I get
I sit back, I forget
I let my mind clear of all its ails
They all just dissipate in the air
All the worries, all the fear
Because of this chair!
Its wonderful color, with dirt and stain
Troubles try to overtake me—they try in vain
If I could only stay a while longer
Only remain
In this chair, my mother’s wonderful chair.
“Something that always has to be taken into consideration:
The Human factor”
(Hear that Marx!)
Why
If on man we could rely
If only on his word, his honor, we could go by
We can’t, why?
It is not that everything done, spoken, implied is a lie
But man is oriented unfortunately, to watching his fellowman fail, even die
One has to be exceptional, not necessarily good but at least better
Or even try
And we can’t, why?
We live in a world in which good people are greeted with suspicion
Suspense
Where is truth when we need it to stand in our defense?
Hypocrites, chameleons, no one to trust, a true offense!
You would think that such an intelligent species would have more sense . . .
Yet we do not, why?
Isn’t it good to know we can be set straight?
Choose other options besides envy, bigotry, hate?
But a lot of us are going to give in too late
Still harboring the same old habits
But wait
If on both sides these forces reign so great
To what or whom, will we finally relate?
We get love, unity, peace
And all we have to do is forsake malice, hate
Yet we can’t, why?
Can you tell me?
“If you have something to do to better yourself
To create a better tomorrow
Do it now!
Don’t procrastinate
At least life is pointing you in a particular direction”
Complacency
So many gone before me
Have been lost along the way
So many, some bad, some better than me
Their lives have dwindled away
Some fell into undesirable company
Some their environment was too rocky
But I seem to have landed on fertile clay!
But I have to grow
I have to flourish
I have to bear fruit
I have to nourish
But first I have to die!
But I’m comfortable with this life
I don’t want it to vanish
Yet it seems I have no choice
It has begun to diminish
I’m holding on too long to this lie
For things to get better
I have to die
But I’m afraid of the unknown
I’ll lie down, I’ll try
But what do I know—I’m just a seed!
Thief
To be a thief wouldn’t that be neat
Steal, ste
al, easy and neat, sweet?
I don’t think so
Me? I’d never get caught, never
The cops would be too dumb to catch me, catch me? Never, ever?
I don’t think so
Alright, so I got caught
It was those stupid idiots, it wasn’t my fault!
But hey I’m not worried, the judge can’t make nothing stick
If only these stupid cops stop annoying me, especially that pig, that . . . @#&!
I’ve never been sent to prison, and I never will
I’ll get off, you just wait and see
What with my amazing abilities, with my skills?
I don’t think so.
God damn! I’m in prison!
Why didn’t I pay attention to my lawyer, that stupid judge!
Why didn’t I listen?
No! No! I’m not going in there!
YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!
NO! LET ME GO YOU PIG! NO, LET ME GO—ah man—
YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO HIT ME!!
I’ll change my ways
GET YOURSELF TOGETHER BOY!
TAKE YOUR PUNISHMENT LIKE A MAN!
DIDN’T YOU KNOW THAT crime doesn’t pay
Hey look! Fresh meat! Well what do you know—
HELLO BABY!
Guard, was that big guy talking to me . . .
Huh?
Answer me
ANSWER ME!
Maybe
Son, it’s simple, you break the law you pay
Think about it son, we’re doing you a favor
The direction you were going
In a few years you might have been dead anyway!
Oh yeah? I’m going to get all of you!
That’s what you think!
That’s what I know!
With that kind of attitude young man . . .
I don’t think so.
“Happy is the man who is employed in something he enjoys
Wouldn’t it be perfect without these distractions called Bills?”
For You (Thanks to an employer)
No matter the complaints I hear
The sounds of discontent
The glimmers of fear
Whether it’s justified
Whether it’s true
I’m thankful to God
For you.
Without your accomplishments, your dreams
None of us would be here
Yes, employment we would have found
Although we don’t know where
But to get a chance at a better life
Something better, worthwhile to do
I’m thankful to God
For you.
Sure we could have been better
Or we could have been worse
Will time pass judgment
By the size of one’s purse?
If only we could just be concerned
With the here and now
Do our best, help each other out
And be thankful for what tomorrow allows
One day, we might see some of our dreams come true
But until then, I’m thankful to God
For you
One’s true path in life is sometimes clear
Most of us are oblivious to it, don’t even care
I’m thankful you found yours, despite pain or strife
I’m thankful that you and your company are a part of my life.
“The lust of the eyes
The lust of the body
The pride of life . . .”
Dance
Dance for me
Dance some more
Turn me on
Capture me in your stare
Torture me, I don’t care
Just don’t say you’re gone
Show me what I want to see
Come deep, deep inside me
Deep and long
I’m yours, at least for a while
To you I belong
How ironic
Or is it pathetic?
I think I’ll go home now
Later.
“One of the strongest human desires is freedom.
But what do you do if the shackles are invisible?”
Free
When shall we be free
Truly free?
Do we act
Stand proud and
Take the initiative, or
Just wait and see?
Black person?
Human?
“Distract me
For just a little while longer”
Red
Red and white
What a sight
Too bad it’s just a fantasy
Moving to the left then
To the right
Room barely void of light
Harkening the conveyor of ecstasy
Stares falling on empty eyes
The beautiful smile
The beautiful lies
I love you.
Love
Be it myth or true
To find that someone who makes you feel so wonderful inside
When they say “I love you” . . .
“Tend your garden with all the care and love you can give
Give each flower the greatest chance of being all it can be”
Jackie
Beautiful flower
On this long lost day
Your frail, wondrous petals
Have started to fade away
Although the splendor of your bloom isn’t visible now
Fantastic flower, your demise I shan’t allow!
I know now what I must do
The care, the love that must be given to you
You only get one chance to show the world your light
In this endless night
So bloom, beautiful flower bloom with all your might!!
Do not succumb to winter’s merciless cold
Let only tales of your warmth, beautiful flower, o’er the eons be told!
Tales that will never get old!
“Awaken, O my heart
From your slumber
From your sleep”
Relief
She called today
Set aright my troubled mind that had gone amiss
My mind, which was painfully caught
In the gears of this gigantic mechanism
We refer to as life
But she did call
And now everything is better.
“Some actions are worth the possible consequences
No matter how much you put yourself in harm’s way
Love is one such action”
Consequence
Head first
That’s the way I always do it
At least lately anyway
Head first
Not contemplating the possible outcomes
Of my actions
Regardless of
The consequences
Once bitten, twice shy?
Not so!
At what age did this author write that anyway?
Did he or she, go through all of life’s
Possible situations?
I unfortunately, have proven it incorrect
Is it better
To not have loved at all
Than to have loved and lost?
Or is it healthy to, every once in a while
Put your emotions through the wringer?
“I love you
Such a wonderful phrase
Or such wonderfully deceitful phrase!”
Do You Really?
You say you love me
Yet you thrust into my heart a blade
Twisting it, turning it, leaving my trust betrayed
The reasons why, I cannot see
Yet you stare and
You say you love me?
You say you love me
So why forego all my years of sacrifice
Was all my pain not worth the price?
From your father and me, you hide things so carefully
Then you stare and
Say you love me?
O if I could repay the debt
Take back all the tears that have been wept
I would do things better, do things differently
You person in the mirror, why do you stare
And
Say you love me?
“The darkest part of night is just before dawn
Or so I have heard”
Just before Dawn
I know you’re out there
Somewhere trying to hide from me
This darkness, I shall have no fear
I’ll toil just a little while longer
I know you will not forsake me
O Dawn
It’s now the darkest night
But when you return all will be right
Come to me now
Brighten my life, my day, somehow
Don’t forget me
O Dawn.
Passion
I remember how I used to feel
Those innocent moments I used to steal . . .
“So wonderful, this voyage we call life
She’s so beautiful, what a lovely voice