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i
All I ever looked for was
happiness:
Not for myself only; also for mine.
Dumbstruck, I learned the futility of being
good.
Tell me, how does one get
pleasure out of life?
How, when so much engenders pain?
Only maudlin moments of forgetfulness
Unloose the tears that turn the blood to
wine.
Simple Simon went into a
wood,
Hoping to return his damaged wife.
A drunken druid drove him forth again,
Laughing like a god at his distress:
Take her, fool! For you she'll do just
fine!
Longing comes easy in
darkness. I should
Open my eyes, turn on the light. A knife,
Viciously twisting, argues for pain.
Eagerly I press on, in fear of
nothingness.
ii
There! Do you see the
light
High on that mountain?
Even here there
is
Light! Do you see
it?
Only darkness. You see
Reflections of dreams. Here
Darkness covers
even
Tomorrow. Who can
Hope any longer for light?
Yet there it is! We must
Go towards it, or else--
Or be of those who love
Darkness, luminous darkness . . .
iii
Wealth isolates, hardship
unites.
In darkness people hold hands.
Those only who cry out are comforted.
However we live, death is the same.
And so we come to know Thy
name:
Lounging easy in our rights,
Loving only as need demands,
The grace most sought
uncelebrated,
Happiness inextricable from shame.
Yet we, too, have known lidless
nights.
Hope is not for one who
understands.
Even blameless, we are rejected.
All are lost who win the game.
Reason renders only lights.
Those who fear know Thy commands.
Copyright by Nicholas Gordon. Free for personal or non-commercial use.
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