Optimism
He lays his head against the damp grass with a smile:
“I've had enough of optimism for a while,
And I could lie here on the dark side of the earth
Until dawn comes to show me what sunshine is worth.”
That smile in the moonlight makes my worries ease,
It's the first of his smiles I've ever believed
In sixteen years of fun and games and deep concern
About the lessons he tried so hard not to learn:
That you can't ever save anyone from himself;
That the world does not count good intentions as wealth;
That on those nights when he needs to comfort someone
If he finds no buyer not to force an auction;
That the process of the optimist's suicide
Is always searching darkness to find its bright side
And never looking for what's good in what is good.
Now his smile tells me these things are understood.
He's had enough of optimism for a while
And lays his head against the damp grass with a smile.