We played this game in messages to each other very recently, did we not? Oh, on a much smaller scale, of course, and with much less beautiful words than those you have used here, my friend. i.e., “Ah, the sweet smell of success! Or is it the success of sweet smells? etc.” Yes? I like this version much better. You added beauty to it, and made it much more intimate and meaningful. What we did before was meaningless fluff, now a silk purse from a poet’s ear.

I am a fan of Poe’s I like how you changed each stanza around like that;))

Thanks so much Valuptas. Your comment is very affirming.🕊️🙏

A powerful and thought provoking piece, dear Damian! Puppets on the string which move to every command of the puppeteer are easily to control…
To follow the drum of your heartbeat was a good idea! Your free rhyming flows easily and naturally!

Excellent, see .. this is what happens when free verse becomes you .. its all prose from here and no cons .. write on .. Neville

I HATE corporations and Politicians. Your poem strikes a nerve which I can easily understand and agree with.

This is really good cuz. I don’t like politics, but you write this so well.

Thanks so much for reading and your kind words, Mary. So glad you connected with the write my friend. Back at ya.. Appreciate you.

Damian

Fantastic work, my friend.

Two verses yet they tell the whole truth…. I don’t know how the human mind and spirit will survive and deal with all these negative rushes all around and everywhere… The problem that even when You are conscious and doing what You should do, the environment around You is saying another thing, and we both know how the surrounding affects us and now we need extra extra work! Yes I do appreciate old times. Great write my friend.

You know, the number of poetic rants I’ve written this year alone actually depresses me. It never seems to end. Spilling their lies and spewing their hate on the daily. Everyone I know is numb and fighting fatigue from it all. I’ll keep spilling truth if you do, my friend

This is outstanding, Curt. It sounds to me like something Kerouac might have written. It needs voice, I think — but then, I think that of damn near everything — except a whole bunch of things I’ve heard on the radio and TV that should never have been heard by anyone. I do have my limits. There’s only one good thing about those things: I can turn them off. Now this, this is good very beautiful. It sings without the music. I could feel the need, the longing and the heartbreak. Excellent work, my friend.

This is some serious juice of a lexiphile! Gonna be sighing on this one for days…