Three Wise Men

 

Happiness is not defined 

by complexity of construction, 

and a happy fool 

is often better company than

a sad and bitter sophist.

We sometimes mock

the simplicity of simple goals

 

I have known

three of these small and work bent men

all content in their knowledge of

servitude and nobility,

acceptance and toil,

learning early, not to reach

beyond their grasp.

 

Abbreviated they were

both in name and life

denied the knowledge

of their full existence. 

 

Dan made houses

from stone, and wood, and water,

and avoided his ‘betters’.

 

Dick sculpted dreams,

simply honed from words he polished

with diligence. until

he himself was pinned too early.

 

Billy snaked pipes,

imagined water where it was needed,

felt restrained only by the need

to turn a bend without a kink.

 

None of them ever had anything more

than they had already given away,

and they were the wealthiest men 

I have ever known.

©Niall OConnor 2024