A Poem on Moderation

Moderation is Not a Negation of Intensity, But Helps Avoid Monotony
by
John Tagliabue

Will you stop for a while, stop trying to pull yourself together
for some clear "meaning" - some momentary summary? no one
can have poetry or dances, prayers or climaxes all day, the ordinary
blankness of little dramatic consciousness is good for the health sometimes,
only Dostoevksy can be Dostoevskian at such long long tumultuous stretches,
look what that intensity did to poor great Van Gogh, linger, lunge
scrounge and be stupid, that doesn't take much centering of one's forces,
as wise Whitman said, "lounge and invite the soul." Get enough sleep,
and not only because (as Cocteau said) "poetry is the literature of sleep",
be a dumb bell for a few minutes at least, we don't want
Sunday church bells
ringing constantly