The Fool's Discontent, Part 6

The seventh part is best...

Read Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

VI.

At last you walk on down the stair
Away from lights
Far from the show
To the heart
The heart and soul
Or so it should be
Right?

I too thought so

The library indeed is full
Full of things that were said
And things that were dreamt
And known and learned and taught
So much is here that can be bought…
You shudder at the thought

Who could price these dusty volumes?
The spirit held in long-dormant slumber
Yet alive and banished from all sight
Dying from a world
That tramples down the highways
Of the Great Conversation
With the grinding gold-thirsty desires
Of Now Especially
Or whatever comes next
(And does it matter?)
There is no conversation now!
Have you spoken once today?
Will you ever speak
Is the toll too steep?

And now your liquid thoughts are running
Rolling down your cheeks as though
They might just freeze and crack and shatter
Success success, oh does it matter?

Your smiling guide, unheeding, beams
“Finally see
The library free
From thoughts rank and musty
From words dry and rusty
From almost all the nets and traps
(Just avoid the dusty jackets)

“And after years of service here
Perhaps you will have some
Great, sincere, well-wrought, clear
Song that you might hum
And if your song is strong and proud
And your head is set on straight
And if your poem is well-formed
And your steps are never late
And if your story is a tale
Of length and depth and quick-spun fate
Well then!
You may stand up proud in the place that ours
And the masters’ works call home-
Find some space in the long back row
And proudly add your own”






But…