-- Sometimes --

by John Herlihy

Sometimes,

if we want to be happy,

We have to risk being hurt.

Sometimes,

If we feel unhappy,

We have to ourselves assert.

Sometimes,

When we feel pleasure,

We remember our various pains

Sometimes,

When we feel displeasure,

Sweet juices flow into our veins.

Sometimes,

A vision can be seen within

That cannot be seen without

Sometimes,

Silence can be heard within

That cannot be heard without

Sometimes,

When in the midst of a crowd,

We feel a violation of privacy.

Sometimes,

All the facts that we think we know,

Betray an intimate sense of mystery.

Sometimes,

Better to have a wrong place to go

Than not having a place at all.

Sometimes,

Better to have loved and lost,

Than never to have loved at all.

Sometimes,

Amid the teeming gusts of a storm,

We are reminded of the calm.

Sometimes,

In hearing the breath of the wind,

We are reminded of a sacred psalm.

Sometimes,

As I sleep-walk through life,

I feel ready to awaken.

Sometimes,

As I awaken at break of day,

I feel as though forsaken.

Sometimes,

I seem to be on a long journey,

Leaving goodbyes at homes with quiet doors.

Sometimes,

I feel to be deaf, dumb and blind,

Walking along wet, slippery floors.

Sometimes,

I remember how important it is,

To keep moving forward and survive.

Sometimes,

I exult in the quiet of the dawn,

I have awakened, I am here, I am alive.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Saturday 27 April 2024