Thanks for the review Max and this was one of my earlier stories, written 15 years ago. I am currently updating and attempting to improve it, which I hope might improve the rating.
Thanks for the feedback, Fishy, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was a little hesitant to submit it, seeing I'd never entered a poem before, so I'm glad it was well received.
In a land long forgotten and during a time when the path men’s lives took was cast in stone from the moment of conception and little could be done to improve one’s lot in life, I seek to tell you a tale. It is the story of several boys who were among a select group that were fortunate enough to escape the shackles of their less than noble birth, but this miracle did not occur as the result of anything these boys had done. It was merely the byproduct of a heart wrenching decision their parents
Jem lived in a kingdom where only the Noble and a few others lived well and he seemed doomed to a life of poverty and misery. He, along with a group of other boys, had a chance to improve their lot in life, but would it all end with a final roll of the dice?
Thank you for the response, Yetti, and what I was hoping to evoke were feelings toward those less fortunate and outside our own extended family or particular group, whether based of ethniticity, race, religion or some other factor.