You can’t burn out
if not on fire
You can’t be hurt
without desire
You can’t be found
if never lost
You’ll never melt
without a frost
Your memory void
without a thought
You’re never freed
if never caught
You’ll never plant
without a seed
You need the words
to have a creed
The past depends
on present spent
The pawn shop thrives
on items lent
The morning lost
without the night
The truth abeyant
—wrong or right

(The New Room: July, 2022)