Why do the flies gather, 
what is their interest in the smelly dung heap? 
The bull hasn't even walked away yet 
but the flies are already there.

A woman was proud of all her many divorces, 
A man was proud of all the children he fathered 
with many different women. 
And the flies were gathered around, 
laughing and clapping.

You may say, ...There is no morality involved with flies 
crawling and flying about a dung heap.... 
In this respect I'm frightened at the idea 
of what is accepted, teaching our young 
by means of mass media.

And flies always gather when something decays, 
traditional morals and values these days 
and self'righteous hosts 
who carry viruses to our youth 
are elevated and revered 
as wise and intelligent, 
though they're pompous and vain, 
so like flies they promote 
a speedy decay.

And the flies are crawling about; 
laughing and clapping making moral decay 
look good in some way. 
That I can't understand.

So I ask you again, 
why do the flies gather? What is their interest 
in the smelly dung heap?

If not for justifying their own meaningless existence by enjoying and reveling in the sin of others, 
then maybe a feeling of jealousy and envy 
of seeing how sensational they want their own idle lives to be.

Oh how pitiful are these flies 
when the air that they breath 
could be much cleaner and fresher 
far away from the bulls dung heap.

Daniel Taverne is a legally blind disabled veteran with a background in Occupational therapy, bricklaying and ( to a lesser degree) writing poetry, short stories and articles.