Is the choice between dream and possession?
And which would you rather have –
if the first can become an obsession
and the second an Alcatraz?
If to have or have not is the issue
which of these would you rather be –
behind golden bars in a prison
or raggardly, haggardly free?
Do you yearn for a million, a mansion,
or to live like a monk in a cell?
Do you rate either one as a heaven
and the other a living hell?
Do you think you’re a sage or a sucker
if your view’s wealth corrupts and you’re saved
by surviving on dry bread and water
and prayer even though it’s unpaid?
Is a place in the sun what you’re after
or jagged intensity?
Do you feel more inspired by St Francis
or fine wines and a flatscreen TV?
Or does none of it really matter
in a long run in which we’re all dead
since the world will roll on without meaning
and there’s really no more to be said?