The Cause Of My Pride..

As we hiked under the canopy,
Hiding from the sun, his atrocity,
Tentatively, letting our feet rest
Once the land beneath passed the test,
Letting ourselves be led by a gush,
Inhaling aroma of the evergreen lush,
We soon stood before a thatched roof hut,
"Go on!, enter!"- suggested my gut;
Having read many a story,
I'd to know if it was an allegory;
Persuading the folks to let me lag,
I set out to honor the earlier swag.
At the door, him, I did meet,
Smiling, he folded his hands to greet;
There were others- nearly not,
Piously studying, or still in thought.
He, then rolled a carpet to reveal a door,
And I descended stairs, to an inner floor;
Only mirrors adorned the hall,
Big, small and on every wall.
Even as I looked around,
An old sage my eyes had found;
Swiftly, eagerly, he rose from his seat,
And the greeting ritual did repeat.
"Welcome to the narcissist's den"-
He said - "the mantra is Aham! Amen!",
"Chant it, through the hall, as you pass,
And you shall appear in the looking glass";
Saying thus, he took my leave,
What I'd heard, I couldn't believe;
Skeptical, I decided to comply,
I'd time to spare and to try.
As I walked I saw each of my kin,
From moments, memorable, that'd been;
Then the friend I loved to bits,
And the girl, scorned to no limits;
The lads-impertinent-I'd despised,
And the lass who had me mesmerized;
Before long, I was circling the place,
Every time, to find reflected, a new face.
When the sights began to overwhelm,
I knew I no longer was at the helm;
Just as I feared being washed away,
The sage entered, with the light of day;
He smiled-" You've been nursing an ego,
Yet your cause of pride, you don't know!"