Temptation I
I sit, impatient, to watch
my sole light burn
bright, strong, above
and wonder when
the light will end.
I think to smash the bulb
and raise my hand yet cannot
bear the thought of darkness;
again I stay my hand.
Temptation II
Brightly burns my light.
destroy the rose?
I smile at my inertia.
POSTSCRIPT: I wrote these poems when I was in Bob Baush's class at the Northern Virginia Community College in 1985; he was teaching a Creative Writing Seminar. These are two of my poems that could be considered suicidal. At least, my Mother In Law thought they were but I don't remember them a such. (This note being re-writen on 4 December 2013.)