A Standing Ovation Reward Poem by John Sensele

Pain sometimes rains strain
That catapults us either to seek to inflict punishment
On others as churlish challenges drain
Our stamina until if misused pain robs from our judgment

Powers of discernment essential
To separate fiction from fact
Trash from quintessential
Enabling us to care and to detract

From misdirecting our energy
In spreading pain
Slaying synergy
If we deign to enable the reign

Invaded by misconception
To twist our perception
Surrender to the mirage of deception
To betray the correct conception

Of the role pain in our lives plays
In God's grand scheme
Where pain slays delays
In reaping opportunities to reap cream

From shafts of pain meant
To elicit the best
From pages sent
To prevent the pain test

From degenerating into a curse
That worsens our fortune
If from our belief purse
We stress the tune

That strays from the narrow path
That leads to our salvation
Promised to Sylvia Plath
If we are to earn from God a standing ovation.