No Matter What
By John Herlihy

No matter how much the stars enchant me,
It is the darkness in between that scares me.

No matter how much my sorrows haunt me,
It is my weaknesses and sins that taunt me.

No matter how much the world’s pleasures tempt me,
It is the enduring mystery of the spirit that attracts me.

No matter how much mystery of the unseen intrigues me,
It is the lifting of the diaphanous veil that inspires me.

No matter how much my earthly love has forsaken me,
I will continue to love and abide by those taken with me.

No matter how much the world’s evils have scourged me,
I will endeavor to ensure that they have purged me.

No matter how much I probe, search, unravel, uncover,
I will always turn back the curtain the world to discover.

I will continue to whisper to myself what I would do,
Until my shadows settle down to blend with night’s dew.

No matter what I will continue to face my contradictions,
Until silence quiets the world and all its curious addictions.