(Sloth: is the neglect to take care of something that one should do)
57th street
down town chicago,
he's walking at a casual pace,
early, as usual,
he's ten minutes
around the corner from work,
an office building,
the headquarters
of a big banking firm.
He reaches the traffic lights
and turns left onto 56th
and out the corner of his eye
his catches a glimpse
of a young man being beaten
by three others, dressed in black.
But still he walks
doing nothing to aid
the man being beaten.
When he gets home that evening,
he throws his jacket
on the coat stand,
which wobbles as his coat lands,
his son, who is at the top of the stairs
calls to him, for guidance,
but he just says
'not tonight son.'
In true nature of his sin
this man ignorance
that which needs to be done.
He is sloth.
Comments
insertponceyfre... | December 6, 2010 - 16:11
hello andrew - couple of typos: Chicago, ignorance.
I like the poem, and I understand what you're trying to portray, but I'm not completely sure that the word for it is slothfulness - I always thought that meant laziness, and that's not what your poem is about is it? Disclaimer: might be completely wrong!
andrew-evans | December 6, 2010 - 19:23
Erm i used the wikipedia page on the seven deadly sins and interperated that definition in this way.
(Sloth: is the neglect to take care of something that one should do)
The neglecting of the man in need, and his son's troubles.
insertponceyfre... | December 6, 2010 - 19:32
yes, I thought it was a definition from somewhere (other than yourself) - it's a really crap definition though, and bad english too. None of this is aimed at you btw - hope you realise that and aren't offended!
andrew-evans | December 6, 2010 - 19:39
No i'm not offended, i just thought you'd like to know the source so could better judge the peice given the definition i had to work with. I did place it at the top of the poem.