A Smooth Tapering

An old man sipping his dairy Lethe
Out of a Warren Cup
And a footloose young hedonist:
Where is the difference?
In life.

An old poet scribbling his
Melancholies
And a young one doing the same:
There is little difference
On paper.

Both may seduce a reader
By artful despondency
Both are surely masters. The
Difference between life and paper
Simply decreases with age.

In a more perfect world
It wouldn’t. In such a world of
Immutable difference
No poet ever
Could get close to himself.

It suffices to forebode
Imperfection’s
Decreasing discrepancy
To give reason for melancholy
To young and old.

October 13, 2009, Ceteri egoque, 9