Who can claim to be virtuous
without feeling some pride?
Who cannot be craving
for the possessions of others?
Who can be righteous
without screaming in wrath?
Who can ask for others
to pick up the trash they have left?
Who is being too wealthy
without wishing for more?
Who isn’t losing their sleep
over glimpses of thighs?
and who doesn’t crash
the buffet without being hungry?
knowing that living with this
is likely to be
your doom in the end.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder: The Seven Deadly Sins or the Seven Vices – Pride
Todat Grace hosts dVerse OLN, and it is our 400th edition since we started… I am captivated how much of the seven deadly sins actually tick of, and how you can face yourself really.
January 29, 2025
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Interesting questions, Björn, and plenty of food for thought.
The seven vices really
I love the framing of the questions in your poem. I mean I am probably guilty of one or more.
It is not easy to not be breaking any of them….
Bjorn, some define virtue differently than others. Yet excess will get you every time. That said, some just don’t care if it does. I also like the questioning format, where you drop the bomb at the end.
It is worth thinking about
Nice onr
Interesting art
🎇much love
Classic art
The juxtopostion is jarring and thoughtful. I was thinking of bookends or a spectrum.
Thank you… that is a great connection
Fine work indeed, Bjorn. Love the approach of asking questions. Salute!
Pure Slush Books published 7 consecutive anthologies a few years back, each dedicated to one of the Deadly Sins, and I was lucky enough to appear in ALL OF THEM. Find then all together (if you’re interested) here: – Eggs Over Tokyo – : Search results for 7 deadly
The deadly sins is such a great way to write poetry… and questions are very powerful
You ask some very thought-provoking questions, Björn! 😄
Questions work so much better
The shadow self is never farther than arm’s reach! Well done, friend!👌
The only way to avoid your shadow is to live in darkness.
A thought provoking poem.
Who can ask for others
to pick up the trash they have left?
Good question and who will clean up today’s mess of the world. Generations from now will be left with the cleanup or the fallout. sigh…
I get annoyed when I see trash on the side of the road or on my walk…I am all for the rule in parks that say what you bring in you must take out when you leave.
It is one of the things I do to…. Sometimes I pick up other people’s trash
Good one Bjorn. Very clever and poses a lot of questions. Those sins are still deadly…JIM
They are deadly and we are all judged in this life
Great questions which are necessary to ask ourselves Great poem
Thank you… and questions are powerful
The challenge is that we indulge in portions of those sins we deem too minor for redress, heap them collectively into the extinction event. Death by a thousand petty lusts and cutting remarks.
And of course if you claim to be without sin you are at least guilty of one.
We are all in the same boat to be sure–experiencing any one or all of these at some point in our lives.
It is always a struggle, isn’t it?
This was strong, Bjorn. I see you did the seven deadly sins and I did the seven creative muse. I guess it’s two sides of a similar coin.? 🙂
Which of us shall cast the first stone, Björn, we all live in glass houses… Challengingly done!
Seven sins, is it? I love the the questions you ask.
Bjorn, I don’t know that a poem has ever challenged me to so deeply examine MYSELF. Who I think is ME, who the real ME might be. And, from the bottom of my heart .. thank you.
I think the real sinners will never ever look at themselves
Very well questioned Björn. The ending feels like a quiet warning. 👏