Day 113

Today's words:
Medal
Chips
Arrow
Punishment
Bribe
Joy

My brother won a medal
For eating the most chips
In a contest. Afterwards, he said it felt like an arrow
Had been stuck into his stomach. That was his punishment.
There's no way to bribe
The body out of suffering and no joy

In trying.  My greatest joy
As a child was a medal
I'd won for dance. But it was a bribe
That got me it. I gave some a packet of chips
To the judge for it. My punishment
Was sharp as an arrow,

And like an arrow
It carried no joy.
That punishment
Was self-inflicted; everyone thought I'd earned that medal.
Only I knew about the chips
And the bribe.

You can bribe
A judge, but the arrow
Of truth will find you every time. Eat all the chips
You want, you'll still find no joy
In an unearned medal,
And that is your punishment.

Punishment
For a bribe
Could involve taking away the medal
Or being shot with an arrow.
But there's no joy
In the process, even if there are chips

Involved. And the chips
Of guilt I still feel are my eternal punishment.
That and the death of joy
I felt after that bribe.
Like an arrow,
That medal pierced my heart.

Chips may be used as a bribe
But punishment will always find you, like an arrow
Seeks its target with joy, and for that there's no medal.