NaPM April 7 2014

[ChristopherSea]

The Man and the Wooden God an Aesop Fable

Once a man inherited a gift
of a wooden god upon his father’s death
and as the dying mother prays for health
and as the mute singer prays for breath

this man, without a coin, he prayed for wealth.
When life is poor, faith’s not much more than grift
and prayers can’t feed a child or warm a bed.
One day, when many wasted years had passed

he took the god and smashed it to the ground
and found a stash of gold. Then, rich at last
he should have cheered with joy at what he’d found.
Instead, he sat down mournfully and said,

“I wish that I could have you back my friend
What good is gold when life is near the end?”

I might revise your implied moral milo. Perhaps, ‘Better late than never’, right? Either way, he could glue it together again. I enjoyed the irony herein. Just think, if he had smashed that 'true' idol for the sake of it being his sole inheritance what a life he would have had. I love Aesop's Fables. I can espy my volume on the shelves from where I sit at this moment. They could all be retold in poetry forms, changing the cast of characters and animal species and still be as fresh and wise as they were over two millennia ago. You have done a few of these and I wanted to acknowledge how much I enjoy them. Thanks!