May 31, 2019

POUR

What shall I write about this dreary eve?
I look down at my desk and then in kind
the pen and paper also stare at me.
I try to think but nothing comes to mind.
Outside I hear the sound of pouring rain
inviting me to come and soak my feet.
If nothing else, distraction from the pain.
I grab my coat and head out to the street.
I'm still as aimless as before, and yet,
although I know not where I will arrive,
and even though my feet are cold and wet
I can't remember feeling this alive.
I think perhaps I'll write about the rain
and how it makes a dead thing live again.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods?

- The Lays of Ancient Rome

✤ ✤ ✤ ✤ ✤

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

- Lord Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam