Forgotten Ground Regained
Ceaseless Laborer
Soother, subverter, · vein opener,crasher of barricades, · comforter of pain,limitless ranging, · lightlike my speed,my intimates countless, · confidants few,by dark or day · dealing alikewith hermits and hosts, · unhurried, sure,manifold-featured, · now masked, now flensed,or vague, whispering, · I visit allwhether late or soon, · longed-for or fled,with never a pause · in my peregrinationnor weariness, · nor wishing myselfapplause, welcome, · wealth or comfort.As for security, · who claims as much?I need only · number my deedsso as not to see, · some smoke-red dawn,I have done so well · no work survives.
Copyright © Donald Mace Williams, 2023
First published in Forgotten Ground Regained: A Journal of Alliterative Verse, New Series, Issue 2, Spring, 2024
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Answer: death