A Pantoum.
HERE I must lie on my bed,
Longing for health again.
Crazy thoughts whirl in my head,
Mix with that endless pain.
Longing for health again—
Dreams of walking once more
Mix with that endless pain.
Lying in bed is a bore!
Dreams of walking once more,
After these months of repression,
Lying in bed is a bore
Past any means of expression!
After these months of repression,
To wander, and study, and revel...
Past any means of expression,
Pain, you’re a villainous devil!
To wander, and study, and revel,
To eat, drink, and live like a man...
(Pain, you’re a villainous devil!...)
With never a doctor to ban—
To eat, drink, and live like a man,
To wander in meadow and wood,
With never a doctor to ban
Those things that I know to be good...
To wander in meadow and wood,
With Someone, enjoying October,
Those things that I know to be good,
The sky, be it sunny or sober.
With Someone, enjoying October,
To see the gay trees and the hills,
The sky, be it sunny or sober,
With a curse on all doctors and pills...
To see the gay trees and the hills,
Hope is quick faded and fled.
With a curse on all doctors and pills,
Here I must lie on my bed!...