Madness - A Poem

I saw a madman yesterday and wondered if
We ourselves aren't often mad in many ways,
When we let loose our tantrums, when we
Let temper kill wisdom, temperance, and the day,
When we let loudness overcome reason,
And violence put on destruction,
Coz' we've gotten so mad that people keep away.
A man (or woman) would also go wild with love
That he's blinded to what is pure and real;
We say "He's gone crazy in love (or perhaps, in lust)",
Misjudging his madness for a holy quest,
For it is truly love when one is willing to make a sacrifice
For the good of the other and all the rest;
But, it's sheer madness when one keeps believing the lies,
Counting purity and justice as utmost jest.
It might be a moment's infatuation
That soon turns out to be a mad delusion
Bereft of truth, leaving an empty sense of emotion.
I see another man running to be rich,
And so much by the smell of money bewitched
That he forgets home, family, and friends
And uses all around for his own ends;
"Isn't that madness?" I ask, for what else could it be
That drives one crazy after what is today but tomorrow may not be,
Seducing one to forego warm love for the quest of cold money.
There is another man that I see who's crazier of all the mad;
He laughs at the world, and walks about sneering,
Thinking that his "setting above" will bring much cheering -
"That's madness!" I say, for that's what mad people do all the time:
They think they're so influential, so distinct, and so elite
That the world must bow before their elated, inflated pride;
And, such attitudinal self-cheering only gets others leaving
One lonely, isolated, and "distinct" as one didn't thought one'd be.
I'll conclude: Let's watch out for madness, this virus of self-destruction
That clogs the mind, confuses the senses, and obstructs instruction;
Let's keep focused on truth, and us on the right side of the road,
Keep our eyes open and watch for the signals of reason;
For why should temper or pamper or whimper or dumper
Steal the life that God has given us to live with joy through life's best season.

"The hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead." (Ecclesiastes 9:3)
"The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight." (Proverbs 4:7)

© Domenic Marbaniang, July 18, 2012