Good To Greed Poem by Jasmeher Kathuria

He wanted to study, but he was forced to work,
He had to earn for his family, this, he could not shirk.
He used to work hard and bore his family's load,
He spent many nights, on the bench by the road.

All he begged was for a proper meal,
But to help the poor, had nobody the zeal?
He tried educating himself without anyone's help,
He didn't want to be looked upon as a poor little whelp.

He had big dreams of becoming rich and acquiring property,
But these were all crushed by one word - poverty.
A person shouldn't be judged on the basis of being rich or poor,
But one's pride and vanity is what attracts them to this lure.

He was rich at heart, but had no money,
All people saw was a man who looked funny.
He wanted to leave a mark in the world, wanted to make a name,
But what stopped him was society's barrier of money, status and fame.

He tried to resist them, tried not to hear,
He battled his way through and overcame his fears.
He was becoming successful, people started to appreciate him,
He wanted to achieve more and hence became grim.

But soon he realised, he could not get his way,
Unless he obliged someone and by luck, got away.
He thought once, he thought twice, but still followed his intuition,
Knowing, that it would divert him from his mission.

He knew what the consequences were very well,
But poverty all over again, was just as good as hell.
He wasn't himself anymore, he had been consumed by greed,
That might've been the reason that led him to commit a misdeed.

He had risked it all, unfortunately, luck was not in his favour,
But this wrong deed was more than just a misdemeanour.
Now in jail, humiliated, bankrupt and full of regret,
He stabbed himself and ended his life's vignette.

His life could have been better, he could have had it all,
If he was happy and unsatisfied, would have just been a squall.
He stood at the cliff of goodness, right above the abyss of greed,
But it was too tempting, he jumped right into it, all just to bleed.