Either Way

If a poem or essay can end with a conclusion or its opposite, either one, Can it be of any use to anyone? Do the discrepancies and disparities, dualities and densities, reflect only the dementia Of the bearer of the pencil? First entertain, then enlighten if you can. One stretches truth in order to       pretend, Another leavens with levity one’s inevitable end. Most days it's not possible to bring your life into an expressible state. Disparate hopes, arduous chores, word choices. And, of course, the state of the state. Driven by ideas rather than rhymes, for it is not metres, but a metre-making argument, That makes a poem. Convenience store or university English department The day's disputes, down to the meaning of the weather, leave you indisposed To share your heart of zero and your inner rose. It is the strong force, the energy of the loved ones combined with cooperation for good or war. Dad's years in New Guinea fighting Japs, he said, were his best by far. The best that can be said or done is Be where you are. Love the one you're with Not necessarily an adult of the opposite sex, perhaps just a kid who hates math And school, dresses goth, reads rarely but learns a lot from movies and YouTube, Has the presence of mind to say I am who I am, deal with it. That's who I want to be And have always been. Today clean the house, again. Woke up this morning to two thoughts: How sweet to be alive! Life is tough.