By: David Lerner
the trick is to live with utter despair without utterly despairing to hate with your heart and yet not quite believe it
one must, when crossing at the red keep both eyes open sing in the shower without regard for tone laugh as deeply and savagely as possible spend much time alone and regret it as little as you can never cry wolf until it's eating you alive care about your neighbors, but with great discretion never make the mistake of believing it will all come out right but want it to anyway never turn the corner without knowing in your heart there maybe be nothing beyond it even though you're sure there is allow for the pettiness of your fellow man even as you despise it cry as often as possible, and only over tragic or stupid matters fall in love, fall in love adore music, crave beauty, yearn for it all have limits, destroy them, have none, change your mind never get too excited when reading the paper but never forget that it's all really happening flowers are gorgeous and wind can't hurt you the ocean is perfect and the stars are impossible women, though evil, are much better than men and children have more heaven than any sky
You can find this poem in Lerner’s fantastic book of poetry published at Zeitgeist Press titled — A Bouquet of Nails
Bruce Isaacson, co-founder of Zeitgeist Press writes:
“Lerner gave everything to his poetry, even to the point of madness. He sought, through poems, to re-balance the contradictions of power and feeling that warp modern life. He refused to accept the inhumanity that rules society and insisted the world adapt itself to his vision of truth, of justice…like his idol, the poete maudit, Arthur Rimbaud, Lerner expected impossible things from poetry, and many of the burdens of his life resulted from that.”