The Game Changer (On Replay)

‘The Game Changer’

The nature of the game
Accumulating riches?
Chasing fleeting fame?
Crossing the line
after a steep climb
with a golden star ⭐
next to your name?

Angels falling
from skies darkened
as mad dogs bark
from bridges broken
sounding an alarm
Chess pieces in the dark
just waiting to be taken
Failure . . .
the humiliation
of losing
The violation
of innocence forsaken
lost in the grasp
of an unspoken nemesis
one space at a time
in an endless game
of Life & Death
In the far distance
across the surface
of eternity itself
truth is nailed
to a wooden cross

A world in pain
full of envy and malice
ruled by violence
there to be tamed
charmed and exploited
in the pursuit of profit
loveless and shameless
“Nobody Indentured
. . . Nothing Gained!”
Or perhaps try your best
to simply coexist
with the millstone
that’s got you by the grist
To ride it out
under every circumstance?
Or to rise above
and peacefully resist?
A game of choice . . .
or a game of chance
where the rules don’t exist?

Seeking the vertical
speaking on the level
the joy supernatural
in anticipation
of a foretold arrival
The Spirit aflame
Yes … with sympathy
for the devil
Indeed a bad seed
Is the sum total
just a creed of greed
like a feral animal
looking to feed
as Rabies Chic
is always in fashion
upon the red carpet
of Babylon
Don’t go mistaking
the Dealer
for the Creator
It all comes to an end
sooner or later
Don’t be a rabid wolf
… or heaven forbid
a lame sheep
half asleep
upon your feet
In this game
of Life & Death
it’s best to play it sweet
and go against the grain
as you can feel the heat
when tempted to cheat
A clock is ticking
No time to retreat

A bad deal by ordeal?
Survival just a game
of Life & Death
where wealth
can purchase
a presidential pardon?
What we need
is a love revival
to rearrange
a world of dysfunction
To defrost
that frozen flame within
To embrace the free grace
purchased at great cost
The book of instructions
has the strategy to win
with unshackled freedom
from this insane asylum
A museum of the strange
The question
. . . to forever
remain the same
like a one time
force of nature
born to run
shuffling through life
in a walking frame
. . . or change?
To be captured
. . . or to conquer
seeking an answer
questioning the Game?

Words & Artwork;
~ by David B. Redpath © 2018 – 2025

“O’ what may man within him hide,
though angel on the outward side!”

~ William Shakespeare

“Come now, and let us reason together,”
says the Lord. “Though your sins are like
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson, they
shall be like wool”.

~ Isaiah the Prophet

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider
that I have made it my own yet; but one
thing I do: forgetting what lies behind
and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the
[heavenly] prize of the upward call of
God in Christ Jesus.“

~ Paul the Apostle (Amplified)

https://youtu.be/aUxGRjgpgaE?

57 thoughts on “The Game Changer (On Replay)”

  1. An evocative epistle to our ephemeral epoch’s evaporating equilibrium … in other words, an excellent epigrammatic piece of writing, David … now I’m off to the ‘Market’ to sell my poetry books for a reasonable profit … David …

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      1. Thanks … One their best, David

        Here is my attempt at a ‘Kryrielle’.

        Sorry

        Sorry for life’s catastrophe
        My rescue mission wasn’t to be
        Over sharp nails and through hard hail
        I could not find your holy grail
        Our fairytale went sadly wrong
        No matter the sound of my song
        I questioned the world, but I failed
        I could not find your holy grail
        Sorry, I was not there for you
        When our story did not come true
        There was no wine to cure the frail
        I could not find your holy grail

        Liked by 1 person

  3. So much violence rules the world, one wonders if it’s even too much for the Devil. How much can we do to make our small corners of the world more like heaven and spread the Word, when there are so many egos, so much toxicity in politics, and self-interested people that they cannot see the beauty and happiness laid out before them? Can we break through the egos and wake those who wonder, blindly absorbed in themselves and their politics?

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    1. As my amplified version of the instruction
      manual says “ . . . in the last days dangerous
      times [of great stress and trouble] will come
      [difficult days that will be hard to bear]. For
      people will be lovers of self [narcissistic,
      self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by
      greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient
      to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane, [and
      they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human
      affection, calloused & inhumane], irreconcilable,
      malicious gossips, devoid of self-control
      [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good,
      traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual]
      pleasure rather than lovers of God . . . ”
      and when it comes to a certain POTUS 🤔🕶️
      they’re his good points 👈 😎

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. That crazy guy, with the sign saying
      . . . “The End Is Nigh” . . . for once 🤔🕶️
      he might be right? And we all thought
      that he was just high 🥴
      Hopefully Isaac Newton is also right
      when he calculated we’ve got till the
      year 2060, approximately, to play this
      game out. Just enough time for baby
      Finn to grow into his utility belt as my
      faithful superhero sidekick 🦇 😎

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      Reply

  9. I am always amazed at how well you use words, David. It is tragic that materialism is consuming so many of us. We think we can somehow fill the emptiness inside by buying more and more useless things. And we think we can only succeed by thwarting others. Yet, Christ said blessed are the meek and poor in spirit.

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    1. Speaking of words, Anna, this is a great
      example of why I love to reference the
      ‘Amplified’ translation of the Word . . . 📖

      “Blessed [inwardly peaceful, spiritually secure, worthy of respect] are the humble/gentle/meek
      [the kind-hearted, the sweet-spirited, the self-controlled], for they will inherit the earth.”

      Thanks for your kind-hearted comment 🙏😎

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thanks John 🙏 Appreciated.
      Having seven kids I often find myself
      admitting that propagating was all their
      Mother’s bright idea 💡🤔🕶️
      It makes Father’s Day optional 👍
      The photo is of my No.2 grandson, Finn,
      so I take absolutely no responsibility 😎

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Zero teeth in the clockface—
        it gummed time until the bell wept salt.
        Mirrors combusted in Fibonacci order:
        1, 1, 2, 3 shadows blooming from your mouth.
        The syntax of your absence dripped upward.
        We are all slipping upward, upward, how much further?

        Liked by 1 person

      2. “Though you might hear laughing,
        spinning, swinging madly across
        the sun 🌞 It’s not aimed at anyone
        It’s just escaping on the run 🏃‍♂️
        and but for the sky there are no
        fences facing.” ~ Bob Dylan

        Liked by 1 person

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