"The Megalomaniac" - Bahamas AI Art
©A. Derek Catalano
Beware of the Megalomaniac
Observe the man upon the height, who claims to own the very sun,
Who views the world as mere domain, and life a race already won.
Behind the gaze of frozen glass, where empathy has gone to die,
There dwells a mind of grand design, built on a tower of a lie.
So harken now to every verse, and let the warning bell be struck,
For those who walk within his path shall surely find a bitter luck.
The Golden Mask of Vanity
He walks with heavy, arrogant stride, a king without a noble cause,
Demanding all the world obey his whims and self-invented laws.
His ego is a bloated sail that catches every passing breeze,
He does not walk upon the earth; he expects us on our knees.
An idealized vision of the self, a god carved out of common clay,
He believes the light was made for him to herald in the coming day.
The Delusion of Invincible Might
He counts himself invincible, a titan who can never fall,
To him, the highest mountain peak is but a short and simple wall.
No obstacle can block his path, no river deep enough to drown,
For in his warped and fevered mind, he wears a permanent, bright crown.
But this is not a courage found in hearts of gold or spirits brave,
It is a madness of the soul that leads him closer to the grave.
The Architect of Manipulation
A master of the puppet strings, he pulls at every human thread,
With silver tongue and hollow words, he fills the world with quiet dread.
He tests the weak and probes the strong to prove that he is better still,
And breaks the spirits of the rest to bend them to his iron will.
He seeks for power at any cost, through shadows and through open gates,
While hiding in his toxic heart a series of pathological states.
The Shield of False Omnipotence
He feels that he is omnipotent, a force that time cannot erase,
Yet rudeness is the jagged armor worn upon his public face.
He treats the world with cold disdain, with biting wit and cruel attack,
Because he fears the hidden truth: the strength and substance that he lacks.
To hide the insecure man who trembles deep within the dark,
He sets the world around on fire to see the beauty of the spark.
The Rejection of the Mirror
He never admits a single fault, he never learns from what went wrong,
For in his mind, the error lies with those who did not sing his song.
If society rejects his hand or casts him from the hallowed hall,
He thinks the world has lost its sight and let its noble standards fall.
"The problem is not me," he cries, "the problem is the common crowd!"
He wraps his failures in a veil and speaks his arrogance aloud.
The Fear of the Competitor
He mocks the ones he views as rivals, tearing down their every deed,
For deep inside, the fear of loss is like a choking, thorny weed.
He ridicules the brilliant mind and makes a jest of honest toil,
To keep his fragile, shaking throne from sinking back into the soil.
The mask of power is thick and hard, a shell of steel and polished stone,
But underneath, a lonely child sits shivering upon the throne.
The Conclusion
So walk away from golden glares and voices filled with hollow pride,
For there is nothing but a void where true compassion should reside.
A megalomaniac is but a ghost in search of borrowed light,
Who burns the world to warm himself against the coming of the night.
Respect the soul that knows its bounds, the heart that admits a mistake,
And flee the one who offers chains for every promise they might break.
©A. Derek Catalano/Gemini
Related article: The Power of Politicians Over a Gullible Electorate
Related link: Signs of a Megalomaniac
