The Cheerful Art

"The earliest known reference to suicide is a poem, written on papyrus in Egypt 4,000 years ago."

The genre, the lyric,
The inscribed poem is glass
Blown from dunes set on fire,

Twirled in gobs at arm's length
While it's still dangerous,
Clipped, set, allowed to cool

Into proverbs, cliches
About glasses half full,
Half empty, real lyrics,

Baubles whose dependence
On settings, performance
With accompaniment

Among the palaces
Of song, dance, story, scenes,
And so forth conceal them

From their own existence,
Their fragile translucence,
Bent gleams and reflections.

It is not unhappy.
It is not dishonest.
It is a distortion

Of every thought the sands
Will break over, cover,
And scatter back to sleep.