A Parable that Holds No Water

Together in the lifeboat of the body,
marooned at sea, crowd a bedraggled gang
of common characters, a vaporous angel

of ephemeral better self squeezed in beside
a hibernating bear of pain, a barking dog
of ego, a whining infant of desire,

and the chattering monkey of the mind,
and they annoy and comfort each other
as best they know how for as long as the boat

floats.