I guess there's just a meanness in this world
A slumped forward concession
A teary-eyed wasted insight
A brushfire war on every front
Inattentive lack of ambition
Offset by the collective acts of indiscipline and inspiration
And I too sate that hunger for the deep
And give up on everyone and everything
And I too sate that hunger for the deep daily
As often as I recommit readily
To what I still hear and read and see
That life is still worth living
Without gods or masters or heroism
No martyrs basking in religious contemplation
But there are those who deserve respect
Carrying on to the dawn
Doing good without remuneration
"Who built the seven towers of Thebes?
The books are filled with the names of kings
Was it kings who hauled the craggy blocks of stone?
In the evening when the Chinese wall was finished
Where did the masons go?¹