Marionettes Poem by David Stern

I
How not to be bored? when above this globe
A million silent stars glimmer
And each shines in a different way
And all stand still - and fly...

II
And the earth is still - and the abyss of ages,
And everyone alive at the moment,
Of whom not a single bone will remain,
Although people will be as they were...

III
How not to be bored on this stage so small,
So unskillfully fashioned,
Where all Ideals of all people play,
And theater is paid with life -

IV
Frankly, I don't know how to slay this moment,
Most genuine boredom assails me;
What to do, pray tell, Madam,
Should I write prose or verses -?

V
Or write nothing... but sit in the sunshine
And read a romance exciting:
Which Flood wrote on the grains of sand,
Perhaps for human amusement (!) -

VI
Or better yet - I know a more valiant way
To fight this cursed boredom:
Forget people and visit personas
- With neatly fastened necktie...!