Dump

  

As for those who would take the whole world

To tinker it as they see fit,

I observe that they’ll never succeed:

For the world is a sacred vessel

Not made to be altered by man.

The tinkerer will spoil it;

Usurpers will lose it.

For indeed there are things

That must move ahead,

While others must lag;

And some that feel hot,

While others feel cold;

And some that are strong,

While others are weak;

And vigorous ones,

With others worn out.

So the Wise Man discards

Extreme inclinations

To make sweeping judgments,

Or to a life of excess.

—R.B. Blakney’s translation of

Chapter 29 of the Tao Te Ching 

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

And that is my poem.

—23 Oct. 1990