… and I don’t know what they told you

about my Captain, but in his life

he opened my eyes for me,

I suspect he did the same for you,

or at least tried before you clammed them shut

and shook your head from side to side

like a mad man,

like the unfeeling

and wretched,

for in your pursuit of happiness

there was one thing you forgot to learn

that a hundred pounds stolen and squandered

is nothing compared

to five minutes alone

in the woods and listening

to the sound of early summer rain

fall upon your soul

and the once wilting flower that sits beside you.

Ian D. Hall 2017