Rooster

One man lies in his work, and gets a bad reputation; another in his manners, and enjoys a good one. - Thoreau

clucking, bobbing, weaving and ducking

thumb sucking and feather plucking

hardly a morale booster

they've come to snuff the strutting rooster

a barnyard public service

self-conscious and nervous

sporting the cocky, bossy plumage of a proud curse

below the surface

i see the cracks and fault lines of your comings and goings

your hypocrisy and shortcomings

south of the border

low in life's pecking order

easily spotting chinks in your armor

ignoring the fact that i'm a dirt farmer

an off-key snake charmer

i can even see your sins that barely show

concealing my own hidden curse and unholy woe

i'm stinkweed hopped up on miracle gro

they don't know what i know and crow

i stopped caring and looking in the mirror a long time ago

Author's Note

"It may be that he who bestows the largest amount of time and money on the needy is doing the most by his mode of life to produce that misery which he strives in vain to relieve." Thoreau