When minds live tidily apart
and bolt the door against the heart
then very little can be felt
below the chastely chary belt.
Although tranquillity is sorrow
remembered when there’s deep emotion,
tomorrow creeping on tomorrow
today is an impotent potion.
No tragedy will ever kill us,
but anyone can die from messes;
more dangerous than great gorillas
are e-mails sent to wrong addresses.
Dorothy Parker wrote:
Her mind lives tidily, apart
From cold and noise and pain,
And bolts the door against her heart,
Out wailing in the rain.
She also wrote:
Sorrow is tranquillity remembered in emotion.
She also said:
It’s not the tragedies that kill us, it’s the messes.
4/25/06
gershon hepner
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tidily-apart/
