Louis Gibbs

THE AGONY AND THE ECSTACY

I attend a concert,

And my heart overflows

As it resonates with the beauty

Of music of the heavenly spheres

That falls upon my ears,

And tears of exhilaration

Flow freely down my cheeks.

 

I read a paper,

And my heart breaks

From the mindless, unspeakable cruelty

Inflicted upon innocent children,

About which there is nothing I can do,

And tears born of pain

Flow freely down my cheeks.

 

How is it that pure joy and exhilaration

Bring forth the same flow of tears from the heart

As do empathic pain and despair?

Is it that one causes longing for my true home

By reminding me of what it is,

While the other causes longing for it

By confronting me with that which it is not?

 

Must this heart ache so

At these two extremes of

This spectrum of sorrow and bliss?

Is heartache the price we pay for being human,

And will it be worth so dear a price?

We shall see ...

We shall see.