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Of flowers we sing, of bud and shoot,
Of all that strives toward the light,
Forgetful of the fibrous root
Entombed within unyielding night.
Who sings for worm at endless toil?
For tuber bunkered in the clay?
For blind life inching through the soil
As poets praise a cherry spray?
The cut bough sickens— soon to die,
It mourns its anchor in the dark;
Each arching branch that blots the sky
Is twinned to one bereft of bark.
So saint and sinner share the seed
Of root and stem, of wrong and right.
Sing as you will, yet each must feed:
Who sings of light must sing of night.
Can there be any valid concept of ‘good’ without the existence of ‘evil’, of ‘wrong’ without ‘right’, of ‘dark’ without ‘light’? Is not the one dependent upon the other? Just as any seed must divide itself between root and shoot to produce a healthy plant, might it be argued that lacking cruelty and evil as a counterpoint, the very essence of humanity would be rendered meaningless?
