The Harsh Lesson Poem by Robert Rorabeck

Do not let that get in your head,
Because I will fail you-
Do not let the sun become your lavender crutch,
Because it may awaken the mother in her,
But she will only kiss you on your
Parched mouth and send you off into the desert:

There is only one oasis in the desert
(If you can even find it)
Where the ugly frog prince lives,
And he will want you to kiss him;
But he makes an even uglier prince,
So don’t oblige him,
For as soon as you do he will
Be beheaded by a jealous populace.

Instead, you must stand in the blue
Light of the corner outside the church,
And watch her go by every night,
Held in the arm of the gentleman’s silhouette:
There, if you are thirsty,
Will you find your somber liquor that will get you drunk,
That will make you hunger:
There, each night without fail,
You will grow into the color of a ghost,
And the moon will pullulate and catch you
In its exterior wombs,
Where sad thoughts grow like unopened children
In the gross arachnidan light of stillborn morning:

But this I can give to you,
And I will award you high marks in all your subjects,
And perhaps you will become a great philosopher
Of midnight,
The mute lover of faded street corners,
Always overlooked at the edge of the boisterous crowd:
There were ladies smile ruby
And stare emerald,
In the mauve amphitheatre of the passing twilight,
I will give to you the unmarked truth,
And if you believe me, then you might always
Know her,
Surrendering unconditionally as you look on
From your affected distance.