Desire

DESIRE

We desire Desire.
And once found, we grasp it
like greedy children –
We tie a rope round its neck,
and expect it
to lead us to the end of the rainbow.

And when it balks and hedges,
like a dumb stubborn mule,
we thrash it within an inch
of its degenerate life
Until, yipping and yiping,
it charges blindly forward
We in hot, panting pursuit,

straight into a train station, or a
bus depot, into the gut
of the throbbing crush,
the seething mass of humanity –

And as we stop
to catch our breath,
the noose goes slack:

Desire no more,
Desire nowhere to be found.
And we curse ourselves
and howl at the heavens
for our inequities, and

for losing ourselves
to an idea
at the end of a rope.

11/29/02