-- Apportioning Blame --

by John Herlihy

You cannot blame a tree

In the event of a hanging.

You cannot blame the ocean

In the event of a drowning.

Do we blame time

For endless minutes and hours?

Do we blame our trusted beliefs

For their mystical powers?

Do we blame the eagle

As it freely soars on high?

Do we blame the wind

As it gently utters a sigh?

Does anyone blame the sun

For the brilliance of its gleam?

Does anyone blame a placid pond

For having such a face serene?

Does anyone blame the moon

When the new moon fails to appear?

Does anyone blame the stars

When we hold their mysteries dear?

Do we blame the unicorn

For stirring our imagination?

Do we blame the haunted house

Allowing ghosts to escape detection?

Do we blame time

For the brevity of the seasons?

Do we blame winter

For being the harshest of the seasons?

Do we blame the fabric of our being

With its torn cloth?

Do we blame the blind for not seeing

Or the impulses of the light-seeking moth?

Is the earth to blame

When it shudders and shakes as thunder?

Is the night to blame

When stars fill our hearts with wonder?

We never blame the desert

When its dryness protects a hidden well.

We never blame the shimmering mirage

When it casts into the mind a tempting spell.

Do we blame sickness and death

For their inevitability?

Do we blame the life of the spirit

For its enduring mystery?

There is always blame to go around,

Someone, something must give account.

Silence blamed for having no sound,

Its emptiness conceals such full amount.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Saturday 21 October 2023