What is the Good of . . . ?
By John Herlihy

Questions sometimes come to me
In a rhetorical style.
Allow me to give them voice
To consider them for a while.

What is the good of the absolute,
When you have no idea of the relative?
What is the good of the infinite,
When you have no idea where you are?
What is the good of the eternal,
When you don’t meet the day or the hour?
What is the good of the flower,
When you don’t appreciate its odor?
What is the good of the physical,
When you have no idea of the spiritual?
What is the good of physics,
When you deny metaphysics?
What is the good of the temporal,
When you deny the eternal?
What is the good of Heaven,
When you deny the existence of Hell?

What is the good of the heart,
When you don’t understand the rhythm of its beat?
What is the good of the seasons,
When you don’t understand its coldness and heat?
What is the good of origins,
When you don’t understand the Final Hour?
What is the good of particles,
When you don’t understand the essence?
What is the good of loyalty and friendship,
When you foster discord and hardship?
What is the good of love.
When you foster hatred?
What is the good of soul.
When you treasure everything you stole?
What is the good of poetry.
When you really prefer sophistry?

These are the questions
That pursue me by the hour.
I seek no random answers
That have no special power.
Answers are for others,
Who live hour by hour.
For myself, I find answers,
In a simple flower.