Have I arrived too late,
again too late
for all there is to know,
to do, to love and to forgive,
have I then come too late
to end my life
with needful care, sterling intelligence?
Well, but allow the life to suffer
if need be-not the word.
It would be better if the two of them
could live unheeded
within some pastoral, post revolution
in a successful world.
In this however (romanticism if need be)
there seems to have to be a choice.
It is my honor to choose the word alone.
Let that survive.

© 1999 Nathaniel Tarn