spots on the apples
small greyish white lies
the mouse in the house
vapid pop-celebrity worship
too many drinks
now and then
sleeping on the carpet
the way the cosmic company
always manages to pay you
a little less than agreed upon
the tendency of the human race
toward conformity and superstition
these are all just small warts:
you can freeze them off
if you can spare the money and trouble.
as a poor poet,
I find I usually have better uses for both
Besides,
maybe they serve
some obscure, complicated purpose,
like mosquitos.
Apply Kant's universal imperative:
what if all the warts
and mosquitos of the world
were methodically eradicated
(except for those here and there
that survived?)
Would the impact be positive?
Like Socrates,
only with a little less sarcasm,
I don't know.
But how often,
at the end of the day,
is the cure
worse than the disease?
I say, please:
"farmer, farmer, put away that DDT now;
give me spots on my apples,
leave me the birds and the bees."
- (Jo. Mi.)
