When There Is Little Time Left

When there is little time left

To leave your mark in the world

You can’t help but

Recall every missed opportunity

And failure to prove hate demurred.

I’ve no concern with fame

Nor the acknowledgement of a good deed

Rather, showing love to every

Single person, of every single creed.

The world is a place

Filled with people that lie

Cruel kindness surrounds them

Like the mal intent of a fire.

As time runs away

It feels like I’ve lost a battle

Because to those missed opportunities

Was I a benevolent example? 

In the Book, above all else

It says love your neighbor as yourself

When there is little time left

Did you leave pride on the shelf?

 

Anaphora: lines 9-10 Repetition of “every single” at the beginning of successive clauses. The effect is to stress that no one will be excluded

Oxymoron: line 12 “Cruel kindness” is a contradiction, describing the way some people disguise their viciousness with nice appearances or kind words.

Simile: lines 12-13 Comparison of cruel kindness of a person and the way fire surrounds something.

Personification: line 14 Giving “time” the human characteristic of running, implying that it is something that goes fast.

Allusion: lines 18-19 “The Book” is an allusion to the Bible and a reference to Mark 12:31

Diction: Line 17 The word benevolent is a much stronger word than “nice” or “kind”

Symbolism: line 21 Leaving pride on a shelf is just a symbol, not actually leaving something on a shelf, but the idea that you can leave pride behind and do what’s right.