Life's Tests

If never a sorrow came to us, and never a care we knew:
If every hope were realized, and every dream came true;
If only joy were found on earth, and no one ever sighed,
And never a friend proved false to us, and never a loved one died,
And never a burden bore us down, soul-sick and weary, too,
We'd yearn for tests to prove our worth and tasks for us to do.

A Sphinx

CLOSE-MOUTHED you sat five thousand years and never let out a whisper.
Processions came by, marchers, asking questions you answered with gray eyes never blinking, shut lips never talking.
Not one croak of anything you know has come from your cat crouch of ages.
I am one of those who know all you know and I keep my questions: I know the answers you hold.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Short Poems