-- We Ask Questions --

by John Herlihy

We ask rhetorical questions,

Without expecting an answer.

We make so many suggestions,

On the breath of a panther.

We seek support at times,

When nowhere else to turn.

We feel abandoned sometimes,

Into wind-swept ashes we burn.

We all know we do wrong,

A burden lies there in the guilt.

Weakness wishing to be strong,

A clean river muddied with silt.

We feel awe in the hollows of silence,

Its mystery a thunderous sound.

The unstruck bell in compliance,

With potential revelation profound.

Questions still at the tail end of the hour,

As the tangle of sagebrush in the wind.

Here below, sunlight feeds petals of a flower,

High above, a plate of blue to the sky pinned.

Mystery, life’s mystery, raises questions,

Questions that we never dare to ask.

We feel lost, without clear directions,

Hang tough, be brave, just do the task.

- - - - - -

Copyright © John Herlihy

Sunday 30 June 2024