Done with learning. I have
seen how world works.
I am over it. Lessons you
gave are dirtied vases,
dried flowers limp-hanging
devoid of scent, offering only
faint outline of beauty
I once struggled for.
Now I shall tend my little
patch against dark and
rising floods. In a corner
I watch and wish I could
part from life so much
less than I thought promised.
You offered so much and
gave so little. You led me
on, prince of deception. Why
did I trust your stairway? Promised
heaven, a cliff’s edge!
“That wasn’t the lesson;
receiving information, you drew a
wrong conclusion. Path’s
permanently established.
Dig down and deep, pull
away the undergrowth.
See what awaits.”
Look now, hole
appears where intractable
branches barred a way.
Briefly appearing, white
stag raises head and
His fixed gaze stirs
watcher to reverent bow.
“Rise up, imagination;
love’s what needs done.”
© Phil Kemp 2025
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