Alchemy

An equal quantity of pain and pleasure

Exist

Some sage persons have theorized,

Perhaps while reckoning with the tension twixt the two

In their respective lives.

Let’s say it so…then well we know

To effect change-to improve ourselves

Or our world,

We must discover the magical method

By means of which pain is transmogrified

And becomes its opposite.

A pig’s ear becomes a silk purse,

Converting dross to gold,

Making water into wine,

Or catching manna from heaven…

Each of these is easier, I’m sure,

Than is finding the elusive path that

Will lead us to a meadow filled with light.