What is the point of madness…

~ ~M

What is the point of madness
this rat race
this outdoing of ourselves
time and time again,
when does it end,
death?

And who’s counting the days,
you or me?

The completeness of our lives
is it weighed on merit?
Self-accomplishment?
Maybe a little of both?
Maybe neither?

What do we do when our intuition becomes corrupted,
when the things we thought we wanted have blurred lines
and no direction.
Do we keep repeating the same old story?
Take a new path?
Perhaps what justifies our actions could be all that truly matters.

© 2025 Michelle Cook

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18 thoughts on “What is the point of madness…”

  1. This is a very deep poem. I don’t think merit or self-accomplishment matters when we value our lives. And the rat race destroys most of us. The sad part is that most of us are trapped. We can’t choose to not be a part of the rat race and self-accomplishment is the only mirror we have to evaluate ourselves.

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  4. Really loved this poem!!!! Cut to the heart it!
    Especially loved this stanza:

    “The completeness of our lives
    is it weighed on merit?
    Self-accomplishment?
    Maybe a little of both?
    Maybe neither?”

    Bellissimo, My Dear, Bellissimo!!
    😁💖💕🌹

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      1. Ahhh, I’m so happy to have had the honor of making your day!! I love it when a follower/writer does that for me. It’s a great feeling. Happy it happened for you!! I so love the way your poetry reaches out to my heart too!!

        Chuck 😁💖💕🌹

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  6. While I do not know the answers to your questions, at least you’re asking and that can help lead to answers. I also like that your poem makes me notice how close the word madness is to the word matters (both of them share 4 of 7 letters in the same positions, and both are the last words at the poem’s opposite edges), and their similarities make me wonder what if they could be clues to an answer? Fascinating.

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    1. Ahhh yes, I see what you mean. And now I think I should’ve made the title, “Madness Matters.” I do love alliteration. I remember I was in an introspective mood the morning I wrote this and yesterday when I was going through the notes on my phone I found it and decided to post it. It was really just a jumble of random thoughts and questions that ended up taking the shape of a poem. I think I will live the rest of my life pondering questions like these.

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