It
isn't as if I never enjoyed good wine
or walked along the Hudson in moonlight,
I have poignant friends & a decent job,
I read good books even if they're about
miserable people but who's perfectly happy,
I didn't go hungry as a kid & I'm not constantly
oppressed by fascists, what if my apartment
never recovered from its ferocious beating,
no one ever said city life was easy, I admit
my hands turn to cardboard during love-making
& I often sweat through two wool blankets—
but anxiety is good for weight-loss, listen,
who isn't frightened of late night humming
in the walls, I don't live in a police state,
I own a passport & can travel even if I can't
afford to, almost everyone is insulted daily,
what if love is a sentence to hard labor &
last year I couldn't pay my taxes, I didn't
go to prison, yes, I've lost friends to alcohol
& cancer but life is an adventure & I enjoy
meeting new people, sure it's hard getting older
& mysteriously shorter but insomnia & depression
afflict even the rich & famous, okay, my folks
were stingy with affection & my pets didn't live long,
believe me, sympathy isn't what I'm after, I'm basically
almost happy, God in all His wisdom knows that at heart
I'm really not complaining . . .
Philip Schultz
Deep Within the Ravine
More Poems
Out of
the Box Coaching and
Breakthroughs with the Enneagram,
Mary R. Bast, Ph.D.
Copyright © 1999. All rights reserved. Revised:
December 04, 2011