A LAMENT

           So 'lone is the stranger
           Away from his homeland.
           So sad is the shipwrecked,
           The castaway clinging.
           So silent the stillborn
           Adrift in the womb's sea.
     
           A sailor, an exile,
           I sought a new country
           Till ocean and heaven
           Above and below me
           In deluge did battle
           And left me for flotsam.

           So cold was the water!
           It pierced till it numbed me.
           So swift was the current
           That pulled and embraced me.
           So fierce were the brine waves
           That tasted like tear drops.
     
           If I had been washed up
           To wake on the shore of
           The Isle of Dead Heroes,
           The Kingdom of Hades,
           I'd rest with the valiant,
           Share tales and libations.

           But death did not take me,
           Instead I was stranded
           To weep with the living,
           Who battered by sorrows
           Still gasp, though despairing,
           And thrash in misfortune.
     
           If I long for silence
           Why still does my heart beat?
           If I wish for darkness
           Why still do my eyes see?
           If I'm bound for dying
           Why still do my wounds heal?

           I don't mourn for infants
           At rest from life's labors.
           I don't cry for sailors
           Who sway 'neath the ocean.
           I sigh for the exile
           Who lingers untaken.