Forgive the Seekers They just have too much Of dancing flame Which turns limp clay of bodies into stone So they stand straight, so that they can Endure the quest. As flies in honey stuck in time They struggle In strait-jacket of seconds They revolt In shackles of duty, fetters called normal life They strive They dream Of glory generous and vast as starry sky To wrap their tired souls
The clocks keep ticking ominously fast Time-bombs familiar to all, death overlooked Who hears them but the Seekers, wide awake As soldiers, Incurable ill, And parting lovers. They shed their skins as snakes do every year For us to pick and wonder at, try on and keep – Their books or paintings, Bridges, wars, or songs. They leave them easily and change as infants change, From day to day Who knows them knows Their truth that was, and never what will be And only wind can be their companion As fast, as mutable A wanderer as they As true