"Warnings of the Seven" By Matt Gleason Barr - Contest Entry

Warnings of the Seven
By Matt Gleason Barr

Some want to party but few want to work.
Misguided is Jack, desperate not to be a dull boy.   
Ad-interim labor prevents ad-infinitum leisure,
and this proves to be a bad ploy.

They ignore their work, family, and thy God;
and while that may sit poorly with some,
they can’t bring themselves to dust off the shelves,
to quit smoking or drinking their rum.

These people can’t seem to hold down a job;
and the worst part is that it’s “not even their fault”.
It is always the same, always someone to blame,
for why injury was introduced to insult.

For those with the potential to live much more high end,
how can they just settle for gray,
when they can have black or red, and that being said,
they choose Conversation Fluid over Grand Marnier

For Many- To great mountains and seas, to sail off in the breeze,
where no longer are there any woes.
While some live to roam, there are many at home,
but that’s just the way that sloth goes.

There is more than one way, and I do hate to say,
that there would be hyper-consumption of substance.
But people don’t care, they’re willing to dare,
to give in to over-indulgence.

These ones are out of their mind, I do seem to find,
that they’re in far way over their head.
Even when they’re sore, they constantly crave more,
just to abide their procrustean bed.

I only say my number, because many encumber,
without realizing the risk of fatality.
Despite being told, to soon get a hold,
they choose cravings over healthy mentality.

Despite the incessant need to constantly feed,
and the almost impossible feat,
it’s still worth a try, if it means they won’t die,
to guide them to not over-eat.

If I seem glum, which I have been told by some,
I just ask that you listen to me.
I want you to live, so please do not give,
into your deepest temptation of gluttony.

In the past things have appeared, to be more geared
towards the fat men not worthy of hire,
But some men are much worse, for they suffer the curse
of physical sexual desire.

This type of person is not a good version
of what society should look like.
But no matter the cause, we must give pause,
for at any moment they could strike.

Be careful you see, for they very well might be
all around us at any old second.
The perverts and dreamers, and erotic teemers
are a force which should not with reckoned.

Not avoiding the issue, in fact addressing it head on,
I admit I have not done before this,
but the power and passion, though not quite the fashion,
are admittedly very hard to miss.

It makes many uneasy, and several quite breezy,
to talk about passionate trust.
Many don’t care; they simply just stare,
and give in to unholy lust.

In an attempt to achieve, you first must believe,
that you are quite capable and proud.
But try not to confuse, and try not to lose
for you want to stand out from the crowd.

Keep what you own, treat it like your own throne;
do not grumble about what belongs to your kin.
What is the neighbors’ next door, isn’t to make you feel poor,
so be happy with the life you are in.

We don’t need to worry, or be in a hurry,
to make sure that we are the best.
So take time to think, and not make such a stink,
about what could be in your own chest.

What’s mine is mine, what’s yours is yours,
and I think we should keep it that way.
So please don’t be curious, or get over-furious
when I don’t want to give things away.

I hope we have learned, and you don’t feel too burned,
I just want us all to see-
that we all have collections of valuable possessions
so we don’t have to deal with such envy.

I can see by now, you’re wondering how-
and if you’ll make it through this ordeal.
But I want you to know, though it may not show,
I do consider the way that you feel.

I understand you may be in a state of misery,
I do hope you aren’t becoming irate.
But you must heed my advice, to carefully think twice,
and before you attack, just please wait.

The rhythm is dying, the vocabulary’s trying
to keep up with what it used to be;
Your rage is made clear,  but please try to steer
your violence vastly away from me.

Many people are suffering, while your patience is buffering,
and your calm spirit is kept to a minimum.
You mustn’t jab back at me, for you will soon start to see
that it is riddled with countless ad hominem.

I remain innocent as you remain diligent
to exude rage in your immediate path.
But you’ll soon start to fumble, shrinking anger to mumble,
and that is the downfall of wrath.

It is so plain to see, that you can’t hear the plea
of the comfortable life that is before you.
Though it’s sinisterly rotten, it won’t soon be forgotten,
it screams louder at you than sweet virtue.

Where the world goes awry, and the earth meets the sky,
I will never be able to answer.
But endless money and fame flowing like honey
will always appear as the dancer.

The dancer moves more quickly, and is easier to see,
than the crippled old veteran in bed.
Though he’s served his time well, it is much harder to tell
that he’s worth more alive than he is dead.

You can only start wishing, and viciously fishing
for things that you can’t get enough of.
For material possessions bring happier expressions
than things such as friendship and love.

There will never be time when you have but a dime,
and can’t even afford what you need.
But you whine and you pout, and can’t live without,
and that’s the silent danger of greed.

We’ve now come on the end, and some may still pretend
that these sins don’t provide a deep gall.
But time will run out, and they’ll all scream and shout,
for they haven’t learned a lesson at all.

I just want this session to result in a lesson,
but it’s sad to say that it may not end well.
What you get from this prose, my, only Heaven knows.
And I pray you get out of your spell.

Thinking you to be beyond beauty and wealth,
is what some may refer to as conceit.
But you won’t always know, because it won’t always show,
but you’ll really be living in deceit.

Putting your face in a higher place,
and thinking you’re better than most,
is a dangerous game, and you’ll be the one to blame,
when you can do nothing but constantly boast.

Some men are too loud, about being so proud,
and some men may show nothing at all,
but the tragedies that be, that they sadly don’t see,
is that pride cometh before a fall.