In warmth of our sun, a bottle of wine
we shared and listened to winds in the pines.
Not rich we were pleased, we had all our needs,
our wealth was from friendship not what was mine
I claimed the sunshine and you took the rain,
we counted the beans, divided the grains
I gathered my gains and made profit on you
from greed our friendship has withered to pain.
Greed by Pieter Bruegel the elder
A second Rubayat written for Frank at dVerse. I made it yet an installment with poems based on the etchings by Pieter Bruegel the elder on the seven deadly sins
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February 3, 2018
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Nice rubaiyat. The rhyme is tight, flow is smooth, unstumbling. Sad tale of greed coming between friends. A friendship that sounded wonderful. Great pic! Is that Bosch?
The painting is Pieter Bruegel the elder, it’s from the series the seven deadly sins… this one is Greed (or Avarice)
I like the turn from friendship to gains and ruining the friendship in turn. This line for me stood out: I claimed the sunshine and you took the rain.
This is so good.
My favorite section:
“I claimed the sunshine and you took the rain,
we counted the beans, divided the grains
I gathered my gains …”
Well done my good poet!
“What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine” – it’s what my first husband used to say. Nicely told, Björn.
such a sad tale. even though it knew it would go bad by the end, it had a golden start. why do those 7 deadly sins muck things up all the time…
Very well written.
Good description of the consequences of using friendship for gain.
Typical capitalism where even the elements are ‘claimed’! I abhor, now with the use of cellphones to call buying units for our phones it be called ‘airtime’ – at least that’s what we do in South Africa. One can’t ‘buy’ the air! Aviation routes though … It’s been too late for a long time!
A beautiful Rubaiyat, I love how the sounds of warmth, wine, winds and wealth weave through the first quatrain 🙂
Greed has ruined many a relationship. This is a good idea for a series. (K)
So sad to see friendships ruined because of greed and the greedy ones will be lonely in the end.
an interesting read, first of its kind to me, something not explored by others poets in the rubaiyat, though i am still thinking this line over to get its full meaning – “our wealth was from friendship not what was mine”