Unknown to us is the hand of Fate;
We know not what lies ahead
Nor may we divine the exact date
And hour Atropos the tenuous thread
Of our storm-tossed life shall cut
Freeing the soul from arduous sweat.
While we await the pre-ordained hour
We look around for a kindred being
That will shower on us kisses that flower
Into one last death-defying spring,
In whose womb life into love stirs
Filling the heart with youthful fires.
We look back at our past and shudder
For every joy and pain and wail
Is now but a distant flickering blur
Fast vanishing beyond the vale
Of tears that were the years gone by
And ahead the sun is burning the sky.
But hope will not let the pining heart
Down; he who dives deep within the sea
Will ere the last vessel does depart
Find the precious pearl that patiently
Hides beneath the sand-scraped shell.
Man must toil for heaven and not for hell.
Precious gems are rarely found on shore
And oft one has to look in faraway places
Though arid and bleak for the hidden ore
That will in time shine on smiling faces.
Sometimes it may take years for the find
But there are gems that are one of a kind!
So, let us brave the surf and dive deep
Into Thetis' main and there seek
The bountiful harvest we failed to reap
Through fear of chasms black and bleak.
We will set aside our love of the ephemeral
And pry loose what hides beneath the coral!
A man who is wise looks upon his past
If only to see his own footsteps on the strand
Of time: all may not matter but his last
For they may either lead to hell or heaven,
To a sojourn among many a loving angel
Or in the fangs of the fallen Archangel.
The question is: Will we choose life eternal
By challenging the ocean's awesome might
Or for safe and shallow waters settle
And with it the price of everlasting blight?
Blessed is he who at the close of life
Finds a rare gem for years eternally blithe!
Claudio Wye
November 2000
