The Seven Virtues

I.  

A family walks down the autumn trail,
Hand in hand. Husband and wife hold
Son and daughter, lost in the moment.
A broken woman mimics their steps, laughs,
Gestures. Why can’t she have this love?
The horror! That husband should be hers,
That son, that daughter. Oh, the horror…

II.  

Flap-flap, flap-flap… The eagle’s wings
Pound, beat, strike the helpless, wailing air.
The wind screams in eternal agony, twisting
And turning at the eagle’s selfish whim.
Are all the skies not his? Higher
He soars, reaching with wing and talon
For new frontiers to conquer and subdue.

III.  

She is a waitress, only a waitress.
Ah, but her form seems to gleam
In the candlelight. He burns with passion.
She winks. Oh, that knowing wink, that
Vicious wink, that merciless wink. His wife
Could wait, she was cragged like the
Urals. He had to have her now.

IV.  

Ben’s face stares back at me, stoic
And unmoving. Ben’s face mocks me. Ben’s
Lips curl ever so slightly, hiding years
Of wealth and influence. Ben breathes money,
bleeds money, is money. Why can’t I
Be Ben? I stand firmly on my
Mountain, but Ben’s riches tower beside me.

V.  

The peasants swarm the palace. They are
like dogs, barking in the marble courtyard
about thirst and hunger, rights and corruption.
The guard captain barks back, “The king
Is breaking his fast! You may see
His Most Christian King when he finishes.”
His Royal Highness devours his sixth course.

VI.  

She drags her body out of bed,
So heavy and cumbersome. She shuffles down
The hall to the television and flops
Onto the couch. It shrieks beneath her
Weight. She punches the power button on
The remote. A soap opera crosses the
Screen, captivating her mind with cathode rays.

VII.  

He glares at his wife, pent-up
Rage frothing precariously in his white-hot
Mind. “You said what?” he yells. Crack!
Goes his hand, slamming into her stomach.
She gasps for breath. He cracks again.
Blood seeps from her mouth, shattered teeth
Rattling on the ground. He cracks again.

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