LAMENT

You look forward to augured attractions,
But back on tragic facts,
And the comedy and drama
Between are equally charming and black.

And once flowers cascade from your railings
And shrivel with age
Their awful condition supports
The futility of once sought courage.

For there in the ashes of grief and its guilt
Is tea leaf revealed the truth;
Where neither hope nor despair can divine it,
Forever entwined with her youth.