What Is A Microcosm? Poem by Gary Diamond

You don't need to travel to see the world
At least, no further than your own neighbourhood
If you look close enough
Even the smallest towns
Will take on qualities of the big cities.

They contain people, and people come in many kinds.
I don't mean just colours
I talk about those on the top of society
The tycoons, the premier sports leaguers
All the way down to the trash, so perceived
Not my words.

I learnt more from people I'd sooner have written off
Or ignored
Than I did from those touted to be saints.
I lived in the company of lust-drenched swingers
And learnt more about how not to be a sinner
Than the preacher at the methodist
Decrying as his voice bounces shrill
Off the over-elaborate worship walls.

Microcosms, they're called.
How a small part of a larger whole
Can be just as valid
As the entirety
Maybe more so
As it's easier to visualise.