Conception

Thank you but
Not just at the moment

I know you will say I have said that before
I know you have been there all along somewhere
In another time zone

I studied once those beautiful instructions
When I was young and from here
They seemed distant now from everything I remember

I hoped they stayed with you
When the noose started to tighter and
You could say no more and after wisdom
And the days in iron the eyes started from your head

I know the words must have been set down
Partly for yourself
Unjustly condemned after a good life.

I know the design of the world is beyond
Our comprehension
Thank you but grief is selfish and in the present when
The stars do not seem to move
I was not listening.

I know it is not sensible to expect
Fortune to grant her gifts forever I know.


"To the Consolations of Philosophy” ~ W.S.Merwin