A CAUSE

By Yasen Vedrin

(Pearl Seeker)

I do not look for proofs in theorems' design,

I have no scheduled hour to see a shrink.

The friendships that are fake dissolve in time,

With no regret or worry on the brink.

I do not want with useless, blind illusions

To fill up every corner of my space.

If I should trip — I bleed from cold contusions,

But I am always there, in time and place.

With that so necessary, calm apathy,

I skip past every card that Vanity deals.

I don't debate with the devil's attorney,

I trust the deeds before the words he feels.

And somehow, as a stoic by definition,

Stretched out from Marcus Aurelius to Seneca's line,

I am not tortured by this long transition

Along this unending, deep path of mine.

I chose it to be far from worldly glory.

Even the laurel branches dry and fade.

The crooked and the straight share the same story,

When scratching for a rusted crown self-made.

The meaningful — by many still undetected —

I will preserve for travelers behind.

To be a giver of virtues, well-protected —

What higher cause could my own ego find?