There’s That That You Lived There Is That

What is the value of anything good,
Once it’s been followed by anything bad?
The happy afternoon before you knew
The unhappy evening that followed it?

It will happen, it does happen, it has,
And one path is just to get to the next
Good clearing, to go on, get past the bad.

What is the value of memory then,
Just something that steers us along the paths,
Nosy little creatures tracking the good,
Avoiding the turns that shocked us with bad?

The good can do, should do better than that,
Should be there, soothing the trembling creature,
Humming, yes, there is this, but there was that.