Ungrateful Poem by gershon hepner

Human beings, fickle, liars and deceivers,
shunning danger and for profit greedy,
while running from the truth as fast as wide receivers
oblivious of all people who are needy,
such is the damning definition Machiavelli
provided us to show us just how hateful
all humans are. With fire in his belly,
he added one more adjective, the word ungrateful.

In his Simon Critchley’s book, “The Book of Dead Philosophers, ” which also inspired my poems “No Happy Returns” and “Dead Philosophers, ” Critchley writes:

Looked at disinterestedly and from a certain Martian perspective, what generalizations may one make about human beings? As one might expect, in giving advice to his imagined prince, Machiavelli doesn’t exactly mince his words: “They are ungrateful fickle, liars and deceivers, they shun danger and are greedy for profit.”

This is my first poem ever in which I am used an American football metaphor. I still kick myself for having watched an episode of “The L Word” when I could have watched the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Arizona Cardinals.

/11/09