Lost in Today

Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem

“forever—never.  They are the two saddest words in the English tongue.” ~ J. M. Barrie, Dear Brutus

“What doth Joy most borrow” George Eliot, Daniel Deronda

The young man sweats along in torture, hope

And other uselessness, as if a bloom

Will come but only when tomorrows cope

With dreams.  He cannot leave the mirrored room

That traps him, his today.  The mirrors close

Him in on all six sides.  He thinks they trap

Inside life’s box.  He thinks the walled red rose

Will never open.  He can never map

A spreading happiness of fragrance or

Of petals.  His today alone exists.

He fails to see the opening, a door.

Beyond it is his universe of mists.

  He hates the Never, fears Forever in

    His cube.  His fears are ever hunched within.