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

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