Hubris

A narrative poem. Pay close attention to the sides.

Hubris
By M. A. Sanderson


They say ‘strong human spirit’
Though outliers change the graph.
They call the men who don’t feel fear
Freakish psychopaths.
I believe in the contrary,
and some may call me mad,
Yet I believe that those who fear
Are hopeless wastes of oxygen.

Put simply,
I am no ordinary man.
I’ve done unfeasible feats
That no common coward can.

Believe me, sir,
I’m better than all.
Believe me, sir,
I’m stronger than all.
Believe me sir,
While perfection is an
Abstract, perhaps impossible
Term,
It may easily be defined
By how alike a man is to me.


“Such stupendous figure!”
“Do tell me how it was achieved!”
“I wish I could be like you,”
“Your muscles the size of a steed!”
Basic things I’d always hear,
‘Tis all true indeed.

What I am is beyond the common man,
Hard work and elbow grease the only ingredients at hand,
An impossible shape you cannot understand,
That no master sculptor may show in full.
Many aspire to be like me,
They try to act like me and eat like me,
But all to no avail.

Those who are blind cannot resist to look my way.
Those who are mute cannot help but to speak words of praise to me.
Those who are deaf cover their ears in fear of the
Cheers chanting my name, for it is I the people revere.

There has never been a man to match my wits,
Or a man to counter my strength.
No man like that will ever exist,
To match my ability.
Hunting was once a sport I played,
And only on my second day,
I decided that a bear I’d slay,
So I went into the woods, late one night,
When everyone else was in bed,
And the looks on their faces were so amusing
When I brought back the head.

I could kill a dragon
Given they were real,
And I could make a lion cry
If lions could feel.
When I walk into the woods
The rabbits run in fear
But to their ever most surprise,
The wolves were scurrying in tears.

I can’t be killed!
I cannot die!
I assure you still,
I’d never lie.
Look at me!
Can’t you see?
I’m the one even gods wish to be!
Be wary, those who come to me,
With wishes to be my enemy,
None have lived to tell the tale,
For dead men cannot speak.

How do you believe I still lie?
Even the common fool knows that I am invincible.
Why, should you think that I still lie,
I shall show proof otherwise.
Look at that forest, deep in the trees.
Look at that cave, where a grizzly sleeps.
Do you think that you will believe I lie,
If I slay that old bear?
Ensure her death, yes, that old bear will die.