Idyll

“Was I a man or a jerk?”— Saul Bellow on his deathbed

Thrust into the game, the smart bones ache. If

Unbodied souls may choose, I chose this??

Common sense accepts fate's birthday cake.

Life flung me forward—it was hit or miss.

Now I have practiced for these many years,

And from my investment reaped a pretty penny.

Let’s not impose on usury dumb fears!

What's the alternative? (There isn’t any!)

Life’s great fabric churns out shit and change.

Our stunning GDP is coined in suffering.

But in the interstices, one can cleverly arrange

To squeeze a mite of profit from the thing.

Note: The English word “idyll” derives from Greek eidyllion (cf. idein “to see”) and rhymes with “diddle.” Kindly pronounce it ˈi-(ˌ)dil.

Wednesday, May 20, 2026.