To find a purpose for life and pain
The concrete held its secrets in
And smiled at the brash display
How audacious the race of men can be!
Fighting and flaunting their stupidity
For even God, with infinite omniscience
Doesn't know the reason for existence
But mice and men must have a pretense
Or the cats will hunt them down
So on and on we hit the ground
He beat the pavement with brass knuckles
Until his breath came short and shallow
The adversaries stared at one another
And the man's eyes grew swiftly narrow
What a cold, taunting, crafty surface!
But the ground, with all its pride and arrogance
Will never break to interrogation
To scream to men and all the nations
That life's best lived with humble ignorance
Free of fists and brass and bile
Full of respect and humble ignorance