Tepid is the Sin

Tepid is the sin
Cautious, undecided, neutral –
Damned.

Better to sin boldly
Or not at all
Than to dally in ambiguity;
To count your chickens
And analyze why they didn’t hatch

And why someone else’s did;
Why you didn’t measure up
Or down
By standing still.


Better to tack
Than to stay the course;
To make your destination
Standing up or on your knees,
But never lying down

Tread upon by the world
Because you never told it no,
Or yes and doubted with the ferocity of belief,
A doubt turned to purpose better
Than an appeasing whimper, a stodgy agreement.


Stand up, stand up
Burn brightly and shine loudly
Or go plummeting down in flames
To rise again a phoenix;
Whatever you do,
Don’t forget your lighter –
It’s easy to Fall in the dark.

Narrative Dabbling in GRE Vocabulary

She assiduously studied antediluvian history to assuage her mother’s demanding educational expectations and simultaneously attenuate her ties with her unwanted banal boyfriend, whom she longed to aver as her ex. Instead, she allowed her hatred to burgeon until it reached a caustic stage in which the tension was almost corporeal, as if it could be cut with a knife. She began to long for the use of corporal punishment, but instead relied on deprecating comments. The craven young man had such a dearth of courage that he failed to stop her belittling of him. He adopted a feral outlook on life, both Hamlet and Tarzan, as he thought his gloomy thoughts out in his wild cottage in the woods.

Walking in the forest one day, he became the target of depredation by a desiccated old witch, who otherwise spent her time issuing diatribes on the present state of her profession and the diffidence of young converts that led them to try so little. She preyed upon him in his own lack of confidence, taunting and scaring him. In reality, the woman longed to disabuse the general population regarding the nature of witchcraft, but instead she dissembled as a traditional witch, and was sure to be entirely dogmatic on the subject whenever questioned.