Finding The Pattern Poem by Gary Diamond

Endlessly that preoccupies us.
Finding a pattern
Sticking with it.

Now here is a man who has a run of bad luck
His pattern won't stay stable from one month to the next
He worries that his mental lashes are breaking
And that soon comes the real madness.

The odd thing about finding the pattern that fits reasonably
Is that even when it does produce ever-diminishing returns
We'll seek to renew it again and again
Until all hope is lost.
It's why the world is full of divorcees
You'd think, if we were so smart
We'd outlaw getting married.

I hope we'll all be around to witness the complete destruction of fossil fuel.
I hope we'll all be smart enough to make our own dirty bombs.
Some are going to panic as their pattern frays and snaps back on them
Like the cat whip.
I'm going to make sure the cellars are well stocked
Full of beer and preserves
And two fingers up to the rest.

Only through great sacrifice and strife
Can the rest of us endure the relative success of those who died
In the firing line in their thousands.
We remember them, thank them for dying
And rejoice in our own cowardice.
What a beautiful feeling.