The Easy Life is Not Worth Living

The hammer hits the anvil, stroke on stroke,
The pick dislodges monsters of the earth,
As human muscle fells the mighty oak,
The final threshold breaks, a new rebirth!
The burning flames of virtue form a man,
His brothers sharpen him with every word,
His actions rise atop where they began,
To fly on wings like freedom’s noble bird!
Yet indolence draws humans to the grave.
With food and drink and merriment alone,
They cannot love or serve, are never brave,
More motionless than monuments of stone.
So heark and hear that ease is not the goal,
For virtue, truth, and service form the soul.
-Tyler William O’Neil
-May 30, 2009

The Middle Way

As virtue constitutes the noble act,
And character arises from its vote,
So choosing one, the human makes a pact,
Becoming what he’d chosen to promote.
Deficiency degrades as excess rules,
Above the demons, man is less than God,
So he must rise above ignoble fools,
And bow before a higher ruling rod.
Indulgence desecrates his noble form,
Degrading life and salting virtue’s seeds,
While Pride defeats desire to reform,
And strips Nobility from all his deeds.
The path of virtue, narrow straight and true,
Fulfills the ancient and is ever new.
-Tyler William O’Neil
-May 29, 2009

To Brave a Newer World

Embrace your dreams, oh child-heart renewed!
Cast off the horrid burdens of the past,
For I will give you money, health and food,
A stimulus that shall forever last!
You shall exult within your ecstasy,
As melodies and pleasures sate your need,
Indulgence will replace your industry,
A better high than beer or dope or weed!
So generous, we’ll give you thoughts to think,
And nurture language with a watchful eye,
Our protégés shall fornicate and drink,
While words against them are a hateful crime.
For Liberty you never need to fight,
Enjoying it, instead, shall be your right!
-Tyler William O’Neil
-May 27, 2009

The Deeper Symphony

Without restraint all passion waxes cold,
For he must lay the wood before the flame;
If sparks ignite a twig, ‘tis not the same,
As pyramids of arbors burning bold!
Disorder is a terror to behold,
The mark eludes the man with broken aim,
For vision’s bind when focused on a dame,
And Truth obscure to spirits uncontrolled.
Adventure calls the master of the soul,
For he designs an epic from the flame,
Constructing for his tapestry a frame,
Investing romance for a tale of gold.
So wax your ears from hot cacophony,
Surrender to the deeper symphony.
-Tyler William O’Neil
-August 7, 2009

Beati Mundo Corde

To him all things are relative indeed,
For he does not relate to certain truth,
Revolting with the fickleness of youth,
Embracing man or woman for his need.
The wiser fool acknowledges the deed,
It soon repels and sickens him, forsooth,
And yet, behind him, evil seeks the youth,
Aspiring to wake his dormant greed.
Pure sancitity reviles such a deed,
Aware that sin obscures the seeker's eye,
Below, he turns his vision to the sky,
And learns the secret Truth of every creed.
Man uses his own heart to be the eye,
The pure in heart can see beyond the sky.
-Tyler William O'Neil
-August 6, 2009

The Middle Way

In modern flesh the ancient foe attacks,
Ensnaring all “minorities” in one,
Romanticism lurks behind our backs,
Dethroning Reason’s order and the Son.
Yet reason loves the world and not its Lord,
Adoring vicious passions with its heart,
Despising charity to make its hoard,
Surrendering the mind to money’s art.
As Aristotle, we must love the mean,
And mercy mixed with justice must prevail,
Awarding industry the golden green,
And giving the unfortunate their bail.
Thus shall we honor He who reigns above,
Establish Justice and forgive with Love.
-Tyler William O’Neil
-July 10, 2009

The People’s Self-Restraint

As Draco, Solon, Jefferson perceived,
Society will thrive beneath the law,
If just and wise provisions, undeceived,
Will regulate the passions of the mob.
As Tocqueville stated well, the age arrives:
Aristocrats adopt Democracy,
As throne and altar fall, the people thrives,
Yet now we fight a different tyranny.
This age holds promise and debauchery,
And law must now restrain the latter half,
For men with reason gain nobility,
As long as Justice rules on their behalf.
The people’s rule holds no inherent wrong,
But temperance must direct their passion’s song.
-Tyler William O’Neil
-July 3, 2009

The Passion of Abstinence

The beauty here before my eyes deceives,
She cannot in all likelihood be mine,
For while her presence be a fragrant breeze,
Her soul must complement my soul’s design.
The maiden yet still hidden tells the truth,
For God has destined for us n’ere to part,
So struggling against the rage of youth,
I must prepare myself for Cupid’s dart.
Which love is truly passionate by far,
The one that loves the present girl alone,
Or he that perseveres the longest yard,
To find the star, his destiny to know?
So abstinence cannot be truly bleak,
It fuels the love that all immortals seek.
-Tyler William O’Neil
-August 2, 2009

Professional Humility

With clumsy feet I stand upon the brink,
Where certainty collapses into mist,
I fear that I shall soon begin to sink,
And taste regret for all that I have missed.
This fallen world says follow passion’s call,
Fulfill desire and give spirit rest,
Yet passion is a mystery to all,
And of its fickleness they all attest.
Utility seems more reliable,
Yet if it lacks desire’s ceaseless flame,
It follows man’s opinion- fallible,
And makes success itself a very shame.
I venture on the calling of my heart,
May faith and love perfect the Master’s art.
-Tyler William O’Neil
-August 2, 2009

The Golden Bridge

Warm Ceres cultivates all nature’s art,
Cupidian desires, Venus sates,
While Jupiter may rule the sun-god’s cart,
All mortals must surrender to the Fates.
The iron bars of law condemn the soul,
Yet whips and rusty nails may set men free,
Rejecting comforts for the highest goal,
The saint embraces God’s immensity.
The artistry of nature follows Fate,
That maker, cold and merciless, destroys,
And less exists to match its empty weight,
Than in philosophies of men and boys.
So which is dark, and which contains the light?
The golden bridge spans chasms of the night.
-Tyler William O’Neil
-August 1, 2009