Djelloul Marbrook

What is there to win
if winning we will lose
gifts with which we start
this harrowing life?

I decline the race
against another’s best.
I am not defined
by others’ praise.

Life is not a contest
but an invitation
to stand in the fire
of the holy alchemist.

If it sells it’s good. Is that our culture’s motto? War sells. Arms sell. Sex sells. Cheap goods made by exploited humans sell.

Are we really too busy surviving to be concerned? Is life literally about ramming goods down each other’s throat? Do we really want to live to get the best of someone else?

Why do we hear the preachers’ blather about values, abortion, stem cell research, politics, and yet not one word about greed? Does their authority come from Christ or our own refusal to heed Him?

(Note: The Race, inset, oil painting, 1951, 43×31, Juanita Guccione).