Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Homeland Security


The Reckoning
by Theodore Roethke

All profits disappear: the gain
Of ease, the hoarded, secret sum;
And now grim digits of old pain
Return to litter up our home.

We hunt the cause of ruin, add,
Subtract, and put ourselves in pawn;
For all our scratching on the pad,
We cannot trace the error down.

What we are seeking is a fare
One way, a chance to be secure:
The lack that keeps us what we are,
The penny that usurps the poor.

3 comments:

mjaneb said...

wanting knowledge

mrs metaphor said...

I am in line with your post but all I can think to say at this moment is that "7 Chinese Brothers" is probably my favorite REM song.

jdaviddark said...

I trust you've known the pleasures of "The Voice of Harold." If not, you simply must.