On A Forlorn Day Poem by Travis Lepine

On a forlorn day of purely grey,
There wandered a vagrant on his way
To a location to keep warm,
For the sky beheld a violent storm.

He staggered past a vendor’s shop
Where something made that drifter stop.
A cryptic satchel lay tightly concealed,
Hidden securely under an earthly shield.
The man, without delay, gradually glided
Toward the site where the purse resided.
He quailed to his knees and with his grasp,
Hoisted the bag and set free a gasp.
The purse was quite heavy, seven pounds perhaps,
And was crimson red with two ebony straps.

He had not many morals and who would have known
If he glimpsed in the bag; the boulevard was his own.
He detached the harnesses, one by one,
And inside the bag were precious coins and a gun.
The man’s eyes were befuddled with a developing hunger;
He would now travel the sphere as an opulent monger.

His first visitation was to be the shop of the vendor,
Who stood with a cane and a physique that was slender.
Impoverished he did look; he certainly was not blest,
Apart from the resplendent pendant that rests on his chest.
He had a coarse beard, a wardrobe smothered in stains,
And a complexion that was redder that the blood in his veins.

The vendor greeted the vagrant with an honest salute
And said, “You, sir, look like you can use a new suit.”
The vagrant replied, “Not necessary my friend.
The purpose of my presence is not to spend.
I’m simply here to present you an offer;
How would you, my good sir, like to become the shopper? ”
The vendor responded, “With all due respect
I have got all I needed since I last checked.”

“But have you a metal, so seductive and plush;
That a cleric, himself, could not withstand to lust.'
An upheaval arose in that old merchant’s eye
Like the altocumulus clouds of a mackerel sky.
The merchant then murmured, “If you behold such a metal,
Then perhaps it’s pretentious or enthralled by the devil.”
The vagrant just chuckled with an uncanny grin
And said, “But what is great wealth without the presence of sin? ”

He retrieved a handful of coins from the bag he had found,
Erected them to the sky, and discarded them on the ground,
And spoke: “There lay the coins, they be yours if you wish.
They’ll grant you great fortune and everlasting bliss.
Trust me, my friend, your mortal life will soon change.
I only ask for a slight token in this exchange.”

The vendor spoke kindly, “May I address
That materialistic items are not my interest.
Now I kindly ask for your exit; my shop in now closing”
The vagrant replied, “My apologies for imposing.
But you must know I’m a man guilty of greed
And I will maintain my presence ‘til our exchange is agreed!
Now, relinquish that gem and there will be no blood shed.”
The vagrant reached in the purse and retrieved Satan’s lead.

The merchant commanded, “I will not consign!
I will not resist my destiny; I will stand divine! ”
The vagrant aimed at the merchant who stood valiantly brave,
And responded, “You deprived me of the fortunes in which I do crave.
You’re now an enemy. For this reason you must succumb
And accept your given fate; God’s arrival will become.”

He shot the merchant just once and entity bled
From the merchant’s heart as he unsoundly said:
“Greed has polluted your soul for your thoughts are obsessed.
Perdition awaits your arrival for the greed you possess.
I will die your foe until my final breath,
But the last enemy that will be destroyed is your death! ”