Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.
Rejoice, and men will seek you;
......
Thy soul shall find itself alone
'Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone;
Not one, of all the crowd, to pry
Into thine hour of secrecy.
Be silent in that solitude,
Which is not loneliness- for then
The spirits of the dead, who stood
In life before thee, are again
In death around thee, and their will
......
A river without fish.
A mountain missing its goats.
A desert without cacti.
A forest missing its frogs.
A street without bugs.
A garden with only one flower.
A house without people.
A park with only one swing.
......
The Frost performs its secret ministry,
Unhelped by any wind. The owlet's cry
Came loud--and hark, again ! loud as before.
The inmates of my cottage, all at rest,
Have left me to that solitude, which suits
Abstruser musings : save that at my side
My cradled infant slumbers peacefully.
'Tis calm indeed ! so calm, that it disturbs
And vexes meditation with its strange
And extreme silentness. Sea, hill, and wood,
......
I DREAMED that one had died in a strange place
Near no accustomed hand,
And they had nailed the boards above her face,
The peasants of that land,
Wondering to lay her in that solitude,
And raised above her mound
A cross they had made out of two bits of wood,
And planted cypress round;
And left her to the indifferent stars above
Until I carved these words:
......
A river without fish.
A mountain missing its goats.
A desert without cacti.
A forest missing its frogs.
A street without bugs.
A garden with only one flower.
A house without people.
A park with only one swing.
......
My emotional ineptitude has led me to intellectual escapism,
My numb body is ironed by the oppressive walls of an inhumane job,
My troubled sleep has been ongoing for so long,
Occasionally I get to revel in a fleeting reprieve,
The entire world seems devoid of meaning
Loneliness has seeped into every pore of my being,
Everyone seems so distant, so emotionally unavailable,
There's no more hope in me,
Do I find strength in my alienating solitude?
There's no meaning in suffering,
......
walking through sunset
vividly i see a beauty if forms
i breathe and think — inhaling the dirty air
which brushes past against my skin
envisaging a life that one may please
to have . . .
all stones crushing beneath my feet
nothing i feel but a heart-clenching sore
misty-eyed as i reminisce
......
I did not sing today.
I walked long,
But there was no song
As I went about my way.
I did not talk today.
There was no friend
With smile to lend
And kind thought steered my way.
......
People often ask me
what are you doing, where are you going.
Well actually I don't know what I'm doing
I don't know where I'm going.
I can still feel my feet on the ground
tomorrow the weather may wear a different gown
despite a date for measured crown.
West to east
Laiden without feast
provide and chase the least.
......