What the young man asked of the wise...and his reply

By Jason Ho
(C) MMV - CMM = CV (hehehe!)

Sir –
Have you a remedy
For this intolerable malady,
An ailment incurable
With symptoms improbable -
Or more likely
Quite, truly, simply,
A sad manifestation
Of morbid infatuation.
It threatens my sanity
With profound depravity
While previous morbidity
Spawns new misery
Which all fecundity
On my part (but not wholly)
Conjures more visions,
Arising not from lesions
But legions of longing
Hoping, trying, yearning,
Yielding naught o’er the years
But tears, jeers and fears.
Is this awful hindrance
A faint passing encumbrance?
Living is dimming
My hopes of winning
The golden prize
That before my eyes
Beckons me nearer
Yet pushes me further
Away from the embrace,
While still seeking the chase.
I am lost and despairing
Of ever fulfilling
This desire so strong
That spurs me to long
For the faintest touch
That would mean so much.

Dear boy –
I know of what you speak,
This inner peace you seem to seek.
Troubled thoughts beguile your heart
Where the ailment seems to start.
Look at the moon tonight –
A calm veneer, bathed in light.
Not from its own!
It shines not alone,
But for the glory of a star
Like those around it but less far
The sun – yes, the sun’s golden gleam
Falls from the night sky’s paler beam
To earth where lunatics pine
With songs of women and wine.
Even a dark night ends, my friend,
As morning’s heralds portend
The chance of a new day
With each golden ray
That shall illumine your mind
For the truth you shall find.
The short answer is this
Doubt not, naught is amiss
For though little Miss
Might not wish to kiss –
You’re better off in solitary
Single, without alimony,
For singlehood’s a pleasure
Unyoked – without a tether!
It’s a foregone conclusion
That, by mutual exclusion,
Bliss and romance
Are best left to chance.
I know that your juvenile,
Hopelessly puerile,
Insatiably febrile love is not facile.
Well, at least you aren’t senile
Like me.