Beetlebung and Kettlehole--April Poems

Insight at Night

Stars are pigmented, science claims
but I see only brilliance
ridiculing the dark that hangs
over the backyard and the golf course,
as spring blooms send gardenia scents
through the half-open windows
regardless of this planet's pains.

Pleasant hours of night
but with false-colored eyes
watching an unchaste world,
a world, at times, I've held back from
in fear or remorse,
and yet the poet* said,
"this very holding back
is the one suffering
you could have avoided."


*Rumi

Exact quote: "You can hold back from suffering of the world, you have permission to do so, and it is in accordance with your nature, but perhaps this very holding back is the one suffering you could have avoided."

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Prompt: You know who