The Desire — A poem

“There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart’s desire. The other is to gain it.” — George Bernard Shaw

The Desire

Having no money certainly causes unhappiness and ill,
So, I am on a never-ending, ever-accelerating treadmill,
I grab at every opportunity and work harder with skill,
Then the guy who is trying to get that dollar bill.

Whatever I do, wherever I go, it is a media barrage,
That reminds me that whatever I do, or I have, is a mirage,
Urging me to work harder, climb the ladder,
What keeps me yearning for the next guy is earning.

I need someone or something else outside me intervening,
To pat me on the back, for it gives my life meaning,
To go after the object of my yearning,
Oh! Ordinary joy is now so demeaning.

But on reaching the pinnacle and getting the object, I pined for,
Why does it feel void and destroyed that I had before?
After all the stress, I sacrificed health and have family no more,
And did better, than my neighbor, to win the score.

When all alone on the hospital bed, I rest aside,
Empire of necessity and want to defy,
Joy came unmediated and unprompted,
Watching a small child play at my bedside.

It put a smile back on my face as I realize,
Success and wealth only bring more avarice,
A sense of satisfaction came from inside,
And not from the ‘carrots of success’ offered outside.

“It is the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most people live only for the gratification of it”. -Aristotle

“We all have different desires and needs, but if we don’t discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, we will live passively and unfulfilled.” — Bill Watterson