Mean As Little As You Can

Rip van Winkle is still sleeping.
The storyteller only pretended
He woke up so that the storyteller
Had enough story to tell.

Might as well let him sleep forever.
It wouldn't be so cute now,
With much too much changed
For a ghost to survive the shock of it.

Maybe Rip and all ghosts are real.
Maybe all of them are just sleeping
Like Baal; they whisper, snoring
Faintly the secrets they keep

From the ardently living and believing
Inheritors of their vanishing dreams.
Listen, if you truly seek contentment,
Listen to the lazy wisdom of Rip.

Stop striving, even for contentment,
Even for laziness, even for escape.
Just do as little as possible,
Mean as little as you can,

And embrace forever
Arriving late.