Apotheosis of Intern

The starting gun resounds its silent blast,
The newest servant enters in, abashed,
Prepared to work superbly to the last,
His office is a Congressman’s, alas!
His novice legs soon find the beaten track,
To show constituents the city’s heart,
To answer phones and sort the paper stack,
Prepare the way for legislative art.
And now he sees the finish straight ahead,
He perseveres with hope to reach the end,
Yet burns, nostalgic, for past moments dead,
Enjoying present service, rounds the bend.
The silent hear the sounds of victory,
To hail the lowest serf of liberty.
-Tyler William O’Neil
-July 31, 2009

Man’s defeat of Man

A silent sniffle hides the malady,
A hopeless hope pursuing joyless joy,
Comedic rhythm masks a tragedy,
All life illusion, man himself a ploy.
Destruction of the mystery of life,
A baby is a mass of petty cells,
Religion, false, a source of constant strife,
Tradition builds a tapestry of Hells.
Yet Man is more than matter and a tool,
His passion is more noble than the beast’s,
And all creation knows he is a fool,
Who sacrifices diners for the feast!
So he who values joy must humble be,
For Man’s defeat of man is vanity.
-Tyler William O’Neil
April 14, 2009

The Republican Spirit

Amid the cannons and the strain of war,
Th’ American Achilles held his ground,
Majestic in his stature evermore,
He built this Nation on a solid ground.
Amid confusion and dissenting states,
A giant of the Law upheld its might,
As Constantine, with crosses, ruled the fates,
So Lincoln purged our freedom of its blight.
Amid disorder and Progressive haste,
A man of Virtue spoke with dignity,
As Jeremiah ended Israel’s waste,
So Coolidge woke responsibility.
When Roman nations meet calamity,
A Cincinnatus shows their dignity.
-Tyler William O’Neil
April 15, 2009

The Great War

The German Caesar ravages the West,
The swastika obscures the Crucifix,
Until the hope of Freedom, last and best,
Removes the tyrant’s yoke, the fascist beast!
The Caesar of Japan destroys the East
The rising sun, as Re, ignites the throne,
Until the Western Knowledge cows the beast,
And Liberty alights the morning’s home.
The Russian Caesar ousts the old regime,
The crimson menace hunts the Orthodox,
The sword of Liberty need only gleam,
For men to break the wall of fascist rocks.
Beware the man who swallows Church with State,
For Tyranny and Death shall be his fate.
-Tyler William O’Neil
Written at the World War II Memorial at 0:19 on Sunday, June 28, 2009

If men were angels…

Angelic humans love their fellow men,
And work to make them happy, safe and free,
They do not ask for money in return,
But for the joy and honor so to be.
The perfect magistrate is fully just,
And treats each citizen with love and care,
He requisitions merely what he must,
And serves the people for a tiny fare.
Yet men are not angelic so to love,
But target fame and fortune for the self,
And rulers lack the wisdom from above,
To value justice over pow’r and wealth.
While love may be more grand than liberty,
A power unrestrained is tyranny.
-Tyler William O’Neil
-July 9, 2009

The Answer to Suffering

A thousand evils rage upon the Earth,
Despair bursts both the tongue and grape of joy,
And though each instant holds tremendous worth,
No satisfaction meets desire’s ploy.
Vain science seeks to urge the pleasure on,
To overtake desire’s tyranny,
Yet ev’ry satisfaction soon is gone,
And Man is left in bleak despondency.
Pure meditation strangles passion’s hold,
Restraining all desire to its death,
The pain removed, so follows close the gold,
As meaning dies in passion’s final breath.
Submission is alone the perfect course,
For glory lies within the pain’s divorce.
-Tyler William O’Neil
March 10, 2009

The Perils of Selfish Love

Libidinous is he who seeks his gain,
Embracing beauty for desire’s sake,
Bequeathing misery in his own wake,
Disgrace shall etch the meaning of his name.
Poor duty claims the spirit of the same,
In fear all expectation soon shall break,
For he again is seeking his own sake,
And short of glory, virtue fills with pain.
Superfluous appears the lover’s game,
For it excels all reason and debate,
No fear can rule him, neither any fate,
He loves her for herself, and not her name.
A mystery that baffles every greed,
Love self and fail, love others and succeed.
-Tyler William O’Neil
-July 25, 2009

Love is a Refining Fire

Two strangers nod across a great divide,
They neither know nor wish the other’s good,
Nor urge their “friend” to virtue, as they should,
And though they work together, they are blind.
True brothers come, departing as the tide,
Yet each to each is better understood,
As iron sharpens iron, as they should,
They boost each other’s heart and soul and mind.
The wife who knows him best is never kind,
Her love embraces him and does him good,
Yet pressing him beyond where he has stood,
And while devoted, it is never blind.
True love is fire, cleansing every soul,
It shall not be content ‘til we are whole.
-Tyler William O’Neil
-July 24, 2009

In Praise of Eros

The tyrant Youth destroys the human heart-
Awaking errant passions yet unjust,
Distracting students with the lover’s dart,
Insatiable, miraculous, and just.
For rising to his place, the human stands,
While being, he majestically becomes,
Desire marks his glory, and his chance-
He lacks divinity, to it succumbs.
The pinnacle of life is not despair,
But reaching ever higher, does it bow,
For Man to live, he must receive a share
Of future, past and ever-present now.
Oh Eros, you who ever vex our hearts,
Continue to unleash your holy darts!
-Tyler William O’Neil
-July 3, 2009

Law: the Scientific Boredom

At Jericho they circled walls of stone,
With risen staff they saw the ocean rise,
And yet they doubted not the flesh and bone,
But marveled at the God who ruled the skies.
At Bethlehem the Cause became effect,
At Calvary their very Maker died,
And yet for Caesar did they genuflect,
Refusing to, in charity, confide.
Yet when an apple falls toward the earth,
And when a rock makes cities into straw,
They trust their very senses for the truth,
Proclaiming that these constitute a law.
Men trust their power, doubting all beside,
So faith and wonder bow before their pride.
-Tyler William O’Neil
-July 22, 2009

Subjective Objectivity

Subjective good may vary man to man,
One loves a dollar, one a platitude,
Yet all agree on what they should demand,
For some love even evil as the Good.
Experience may yield quite different views,
As age will often disagree with youth,
Yet all perceive what it is good to choose,
And some love even falsehood as the Truth.
How varied are the things that smite the soul!
One loves a woman, one the music's pull,
Yet all converge upon a common goal,
And some love ugly things as Beautiful.
So while, assenting, subjects give their nod,
They love the very attributes of God.
-Tyler William O'Neil
-July 21, 2009

The Love of Nature

August, the Noble Prince now bows the knee,
His promise of eternal joy resounds,
He offers her His mighty majesty,
Releasing her from all infernal bounds!
All maidens whisper of His handsomeness,
Each heart enraptured in His brilliant light,
She fantasizes of His tenderness,
And longs with all her being for His sight.
Yet when He offers her unending love,
She laughs and says, “oh, just a dance will do,”
She knows with all her heart, it’s not enough,
Preferring fantasy to what is true.
So men pursue the attributes of God,
Their hearts desire He whom they forgot.
-Tyler William O’Neil
February 22, 2009

What ring may best a marriage?

To walk the streets of gold through pearly gates,
Jerusalem descending from the clouds,
To sing, forever loosed from earthly weights,
And enter heaven, chanting holy rounds,
To see our fellows passed beyond the grave,
Discourse with saints and poets and the like,
To wink at ancient heroes, ever brave,
And meet that blessed land, where is no night-
T’would last a second if He weren’t there,
And glory would be lost for Heaven’s King-
We soon forget the focus of our care,
As wives forget the husband, love the ring.
Our hope is paved not with the streets of gold,
Our glory and our treasure is our God.
-Tyler William O’Neil
-July 19, 2009

Identity

As flows a river so does rush the sun,
Ancestral honors dribble to their doom,
The present ecstasy wells forth, undone,
And future generations flood the tomb.
Mankind was fluid, is and is to be,
The self of yesteryear became a daze,
Each moment, for a second, he is free,
Tomorrow and eternally, a haze!
Yet certainty illuminates the mind,
The visage of the lion and the lamb,
Though all that is about him may unwind,
He still can say the sacred word, “I am.”
Though one may never touch a river twice,
Existence cannot be a game of dice.
Tyler William O’Neil
March 27, 2009

A Tribute To Disgrace

In order to secure all freedom’s boons,
Establish justice and give her a voice,
We must not overlook each woman’s wounds,
But give to her the liberty of choice.
Yet equal are we born, and equal die,
And freedom must extend to every soul,
We cannot suffer any genocide,
Regardless of the target or the goal.
Yet even if no murder is implied,
And fetuses are just a bunch of cells,
Abortion should disgrace all women’s pride,
For they who kill their children kill themselves.
So even if it finds morality,
Abortion cannot square with dignity.
-Tyler William O’Neil
June 2, 2009