An Evening By A Lake

I walked alone once to a lake,
Remorseful and heavy of heart,
Ashamed, in a quarrel's wake,

Of playing in pettiness a part.

In truth, there was but little pain.
A tiny ripple in a sea of calm.
And what of pain did remain,
Was really a bittersweet balm.

(For remorse is but a game
Every kind man slyly enjoys.
Virtue often courts the blame,
In its own rigour to rejoice.)

The conflict seems simple now,
But that day it seemed profound.
And I paced, with furrowed brow,
Now thinking, now looking around.

I glanced awhile at the setting sun,
And asked why man with man strives.
I turned and saw the east darken,
And sought meaning in our petty lives.

A full hour I spent thus thinking,
Of questions grand and far too grave.
To the red sun, now slowly sinking,
'Twas but divided attention I gave.

Perchance I turned, and behold!
The west now wore heavenly hues.
'Twas blood, brick, brown and gold,
'Gainst grey and a million blues.

For a while, I stood in dumb awe,
But thought slowly, slyly returned.
And I sadly rose to leave, but I saw
Near me a robin, westward turned.

He was staring at what I'd just seen.
But briefly he turned to catch my eye,
And turned quickly back to the scene,
Like one asking me to look at the sky.

To leave would have been impolite,
And so I sat and looked westward.
Together, we mourned the dying light,
Two brothers, not just man and bird.

As night fell, he quietly flew away,
With not even a chirped goodbye.
There wasn't anything left to say:
We were one--he, the sky, and I.

As I bid farewell to the lakeshore,
The big answers I still didn't know.
But I asked big questions no more,
So I gently smiled, and rose to go.

Epilogue:
My wisdom alas soon did ebb,
For wisdom is but a living thing,
I'm caught again in the web,
Again have I fallen to striving.

But not all of me stoops to fight,
For even as I hear the battlecry,
I dimly see a bird in fading light.
And I smile, for I'm he, and he's I.


Note
This attempt at poetry was made on October 2nd. On the same day, it was discussed in a popular forum, frequented, my dear reader, by cultured art lovers like you. You can find the article here.