His upscale life would start to pale
when hardship hit the land
The Crash of Wall Street would entail
a fam'ly move, unplanned.
This shaped the man who'd later be
an artist of great note.
(His "common man" bore tragedy
in plays he later wrote.)
But first he'd need to earn his keep,
a menial path he'd tread
to earn enough and then to reap
the fruits of those he read.
His first success on Broadway would
expose his leftist fight
In All my Sons he vainly stood
for truth to conquer might.
Then Death of Salesman would comprise
a failure to achieve,
a dream* that Willy built on lies
that forced him to deceive.
And Willy, thus, could not survive,
he lost the trust so dear.
Despair would overshadow drive,
his only outcome clear.
In Crucible, its witch hunt would
reflect the scare* where feds
would seek to purge the bad from good,
arrest the suspect reds.
For Miller was among the throng
and questioned on his creed.
His art had fired suspicion long
that he might sow a seed.
With social nod, his fame would rise
when Mar'lyn came along.
Though star-crossed fate 'twould sadly be,
at first they'd do no wrong.
But Marilyn had yearned for grace
to dignify her role -
He wrote The Misfits to embrace
her itch* to meet that goal.
Her drug abuse would then forestall
a future twixt the two.
He'd pen After the Fall, his call,
that thinly veiled his view.
His work would hold a mirror to
the struggle that he knew -
in life, the man defeated, who
still fought for that felt true.
In Grecian pathos, he'd reveal
this loss of worth on stage.
With mastery, he would unpeel
the spirit of the age.
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