Fame To Achieve Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Fame to achieve,
Seems easy to get.
Delicious, sweet and pretty.
Although not too many know,
The price of acquiring fame...
Can be an expense to pay,
Extremely high.

And Although it may be a desire,
To take others along for the ride...
This wish gets quickly hammered down.
As more folks sit just to hang around
Not to contribute.
But expect to be fed and sheltered,
Freely.
Leaving all egos to perceive,
They have reached a place...
That has left them,
Overwhelmingly Admired and... Untouchable.

And then the unthinkable happens.
Those rose colored glasses,
Begin to smudge and crack.
The ones thought to be friends,
Laugh as they turn their backs.
And that climb to the top,
Takes a faster slide to the bottom.
With one who had claimed fame,
Laying face up.
Smothered in sustained humiliation.
To finally learn a lesson to realize,
Celebrating life doing what one likes
Without announcements made,
Of one's accomplishments.
Has more benefit than a fame to get.
And nearly guarantees one to obtain,
A happiness less affected and...
Disconnected from pretense.