Arlene Corwin Poetry

Let Us Talk About Virtue

Let us think about a word;
Let us have a tête-á-tête, a heart-to-heart:
So seldom used;
A word that leads to all that’s good;
So important, so ignored
Its only job to help you: virtue.
Let us list a few:
Self-detachment, happiness,
Tolerance, discernment,
Pity, brotherhood, simplicity,
Courage, patience, humility,
Spontaneity, responsibility,
Wisdom, harmony,
Faith and friendship, on and on.
One word, one thousand applications.

Born with tendencies –
Virtues, vice not yet developed, manifested..
As we grow, they grow,
Show selves in life’s departments.
We do not know, not yet aware that they are there,
Taking time eventual, we see, we do…others too;
And either carry on or one day wake for goodness’ sake,
Knowing what and why good is
And what it does.

When things go wrong, it helps us through.
Disappointments, family death;
Virtue helps us catch our breath,
Carry on with living life,
Creating, thinking, not collapsing.

Living short of rhapsodising
If we but allow and see it;
Virtue’s qualities are key.
To take the subject seriously.
Virtue’a worth the study.
Vice, its opposite but hindrance in the end.
Let UsTalkAboutVirtue3.31.22 Circling Round Everything;Arlene Nover Corwin

These have impact
Middle English: from Old French vertu, from Latin virtus ‘valour, merit, moral perfection’, from vir ‘man’.