Poetry (nonmonetized)

Burning the Ladder

Daily Special 5: Epictetus’s Wisdom

Photo by Johann Walter Bantz on Unsplash

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
— Epictetus

I paid my own way —

Never got any
Handouts

Pulled myself up by my
Bootstraps

and did everything
right —

I worked all summer to afford
College;

Bought my first house at
twenty-four;

Married my high school
Sweetheart;

Paid off my mortgage;

Bought a new car;

Climbed the ladder of
Success —

Without any
Handouts.

Without any
Help.

Kids these days are too
Sensitive —

They don’t want to
Work hard.

We didn’t have
iPhones;

We had grit when I was
Young.

I paid my own way.

If they make college free,

I’ll have paid my loans —
for nothing.

If they give you Medicare,

I’ll have paid insurance —
for nothing.

If they give out UBI,

Nobody will ever want to
Work hard

like I did.

If I had to work hard,
so should you.

If I had to suffer,
so should you.

I paid my own way

when minimum wage was a dollar.

Fifteen an hour to flip burgers?
You kids are crazy.

Get off your lazy asses
and get a real job.

Get an education —

You can work weekends to pay it off.

That’s what I did.

I paid my own way —

and I burned the ladder behind me.

Why have you stopped
climbing?

Pull yourself up
by the wire I’ve cut —

Or garotte yourself with it.

There are no safety nets
anymore.

I didn’t need them,

so I threw them
away.

Thank you Ravyne Hawke for today’s poetry prompt: “Use the following quote as a spark for a poem. ‘He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. — Epictetus.’ Poetry Form — Any / Line Length — Any / Restrictions — Try writing the poem from the POV of an UNwise person grieving for what he does not have.”

The Daily Special — Nov 5th

Support the author:

Follow me on social media:
Twitter: @ MyExplodingPen
Facebook: caseylawrenceauthor
YouTube: Casey Lawrence
Instagram: @ kcntv
TikTok: @ kctnv

If you enjoy my content, consider showing your support by buying me a coffee or joining Medium via my affiliate link to get unlimited access to all of Medium. I will not be monetizing any of my poetry or shortform writing.