377 and 378
Adventure—at an end? No, this is not
the plodding down of time ‘ere time is done.
‘Twas practice, boy—‘twas practice you had naught
when on the earth I sent you down to run.
You think heroic conflict has an end?
That peace is but the absence of all strife?
If such were true, why would dear wisdom send
a man of peace into this mortal life?
No, venturer, this coarse was just the first
of many more adventures of its kind.
For does not part of your bold heart still thirst
for thrill and trial—good and ill combined?
This earth: to know if courage you will sow—
the rest: to know how tall the tree can grow!
~~~
The Budget it a very joyless god.
He has no festival nor holiday.
His scripture’s tenets are so wide and broad
that no aspect of life can get away.
It promises that no more happy days
will e’er be given to your treasury.
For you must do what it so sternly says
With all your blood and any usury.
No paying-off nor payday is a feast
when one’s fixed, finite Budget he worships.
It is the very most scrupulous beast,
whose rites are tight meals and e’en tighter ‘tips’.
Cast off your highs and lows, and be you free
from ecstasy and generosity.